Folk and bluegrass are still an integral part of Appalachian culture and three bands are going to prove it with a night filled with gritty harmonies and fast fiddles.
Hunnabee & the Sandy Tar Boys, Hocking River String Band and Controlled Folly will take the stage at Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St. at 10 p.m. Thursday.
“We don’t get to come down to Athens very often,” said Douglas McArthur, banjo player and vocalist for Hocking River String Band. “But the music down here is full of love.”
The string band has five members that all sing live and in the studio rather effortlessly, said McArthur. The group seems to pick up on the vocal stylings on the spot but look to guitar player Andrew Bethea when they need some guidance, he added.
Bethea grew up with a singing family that played in various choirs, so he was able to adopt the trade throughout the years.
“I was always exposed to (singing) growing up, especially driving around in the car they would sing,” Bethea said. “So that gave me an idea of what harmonies were and since then I just (sing) in the car when I’m driving around.”
The group has a new album titled “Down River” that showcases their vocal talent and can be purchased from the band’s Bandcamp page for $7.
Instead of tracking all of the separate parts, McArthur said they opted to do everything in one shot, setting up microphones for all the instruments and vocal parts and then adjusting the levels afterward. Through this process, the album was recorded, mixed and mastered in about a week, McArthur said.
But Hocking River String Band is not the only group on the bill Thursday. They will be playing with Hunnabee & the Sandy Tar Boys, a band Hocking River String Band has played with at various performances in Ohio and at the Duck Creek Log Jam.
Hunnabee released their newest record, “The Wood Room Sessions”, in July of this year and have been touring from the streets of Athens to the Everglades of Florida. The group also prides itself on playing fast bluegrass and singing “dirty” harmonies.
They will also be joined by Controlled Folly, a three-member band that plays "new grass" music, according to its website.
However, Hocking River String Band isn’t looking for fame. McArthur said they just like to play their favorite music in their spare time and hope Athenians enjoy the performance.
wh092010@ohiou.edu
This article was updated to include information about Controlled Folly, a band that also played at the show.
