Trainwreck Riders / Pine Box Boys (co-headlining) @ Great American Music Hall

Description

Trainwreck Riders:
The members of Trainwreck Riders have been spreading their punk-tinged country rock like barbecue fire through the back yards, train stations, parks and warehouses of San Francisco since they became a band in the early aughts. In The Perch, the follow-up to their 2006 debut, Lonely Road Revival, these city boys may avoid the straightforward twang and honky-tonk of traditional country, but that doesn't make them shy about raiding its barn.
The rootsy spirit of the album derives from its bluegrass influences: the banjo-like guitar picking in “Chug Along,” the saw's Vaudevillian warble in “Livin Daylight.” Steel lap guitar, dobro, accordion and cowbell nudge the sound deeper into backwoods, as does the fiddle — played by the father of drummer Steve Kerwin and guitarist Andrew Kerwin.
They adopted another country-music trick, as well: the use of truism to create themes and choruses. The emotional arcs of these songs come when Peter Frauenfelder sings words like “memories don't live like people do” and “nothing's more pleasant with the past.” – Jenna Humphrey / Prefix Mag

Pine Box Boys
Horrorbilly / Alternative Country / Bloodgrass

LESTER T. RAWW FROM ARKANSAS STARTED THE PINE BOX BOYS in 2003, originally planning to perform new renditions of old murder ballad classics like “The Knoxville Girl,” and “Fair Eleanor.” Soon, however, he found he was composing his own murder ballads, taking many liberties with the form. This lead to their first album, Arkansas Killing Time .

“In my mind, I wanted something that sounded like Willie Nelson in a punk band. I even tried to play a nylon-string guitar hoping it would sound like Trigger. This did not work. At all. So, I switched to a Martin; we sped up the tunes to bluegrass velocities and, well, here we are.”

None of this explains the emphasis on murder, misery, and zombies. Lester blames this on his mother: “She grew up real, REAL country—outhouse, Sears catalog, if you catch my drift—so she raised me on all those old songs. Before bed, she would sing me to sleep with such murder ballads as ‘Pretty Polly,' ‘Skin and Bones Lady,' and ‘The Knoxville Girl.' She must know ten more verses to that song than anyone ever sings. And she liked horror films. Not so much now, but back in the day . . . whooo, we watched some scary stuff.”

Lester fashioned all of this into his unique brand of music: not exactly bluegrass—more like “blackgrass.” Bassist Colonel Timothy Leather and drummer Steven “Your Uncle” Dodds joined him in those early days having played with Lester in The Zag Men, a group specializing in performing live soundtracks to old silent horror films.

Somehow the sound just wasn't twangy enough. Uncle Dodds suggested that they bring banjo-picker Alex “Possum” Carvidi into the group. These four became the core of the band and entered the exciting world of itinerant musicianship, traveling the States and parts of Europe.

STAB! was their second release. While Arkansas Killing Time included many slower numbers, this new album was the result of playing faster songs for thirsty audiences and remains their best seller to date. These first two albums, combined with their third release Child of Calamity , tell the disjointed narrative of a fictitious killer named Willie and his many victims.

They are currently working on their fourth album, Tales From The Emancipated Head . They can also be seen in Dr. Astronaut Body's 2009 concert film Good Evening, Folks. We're The Pine Box Boys .

More Info

Link

http://www.musichallsf.com

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415-885-0750 (Box Office)

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