Darvel Music Festival

Wednesday 3 October 2007
Doors 7.30pm Tickets £10

"The Hunger Mountain Boys blow right past 1960's pop revival and kick it even older-school with sweet pieces of twangy, acoustic Americana that has a '30's and '40's feel." - Boston Globe

"The group's sound is very resolutely old-school, but it's also resolutely eclectic. "Hiccup Remedy Blues" sounds like 1930's hot jazz, while "I've Got The Blues Mary" is more country with brother-duo harmonies and some startlingly virtuosic bottleneck slide guitar, and "Departure Day" sounds like an early Monroe Brothers tune with lickety-split guitar/mandolin interplay and tight sweet vocal harmonies. And that's just the first three songs on the album"!

"Very highly recommended." - Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine Dec 2006

These guys have been written about in all the best bluegrass magazines. But, The Hunger Mountain Boys don't play bluegrass, old-time or country/blues in the way we have come to expect things, though all three flow through everything they touch.

They busk a blend of toe-tapping ragtime that has patent leather vaudeville sheen and shuffles merrily along aided and abetted by mighty fine guitar pickin', stylish slide, dancing fiddle, mellow mandolin... and chugging slap bass.

It's a gift to crank out "something nobody does better" that won them appearances at festivals across America, and theatre slots alongside legendary performers such as Taj Mahal, Del McCoury, Tim O'Brien, Doc Watson and Ralph Stanley.

If you remember Stefan Grossman with affection, and all of the greats he recorded - and played with - when he was at the helm of Kicking Mule Records, the Hunger Mountain Boys will shake and shimmy you all the way to Seventh Heaven.

They pay great homage to Country's best brother duos but, sharp playing and crisp vocal harmonies aside, their biggest strength is the quality of the original material. You cannot tell the old from the new.

The old is likely to be a cover of a Delmore Brothers song, a Jimmie Rodgers jewel or something that Charlie Poole had a hand in refining.

Founder Teddy Weber has been refining things since the band began to take off in 2003. Some of the band's originals were featured on King of Bluegrass, the 2003 Jimmy Martin documentary, and Weber has recorded with Devendra Banhart.

After Matt Downing (Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops) joined in April of 2006, The Hunger Mountain Boys released their third album, called simply "Three", and continued to tour extensively on both sides of the Atlantic. To make things even more appealing, multi-talented ex-Crooked Jades fiddler Adam Tanner has recently joined the line-up.

This band is deliciously juicy and amazingly infectious.

Find out more at


www.hungermountainboys.com

www.myspace.com/hungermountainboys



Teddy Weber of The Hunger Mountain Boys - on the same bill as The Willy Clay Band and The Earl Brothers - took the time to answer a few questions posed trans-Atlantically by our PR man, Mike Ritchie of Mike Ritchie Media.



Q: This is your first visit to Scotland - what are you most looking forward to?

A: We're really looking forward to seeing the country, the people, meeting other musicians and playing music.

Q: Any reason why you've not made it here before now?

A:No reason, just have been busy touring the US, Canada and some of mainland Europe.

Q: Darvel is a small festival: what attracted you to appearing here and do you play smaller community events in the States, too?

A: We play all kind of events in the states. Primarily festivals of all kinds and sizes, theatres and night clubs.

Q: What's the biggest event or venue you've played in the States?

A:Probably Greyfox Bluegrass Festival or The Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA opening up for Doc Watson. Or maybe some of the big theatre dates we did in the south opening for Taj Mahal.

Q: What have you been told to expect from audiences in Scotland?

A: We haven't been told anything really.

Q: For those gig goers who might not be too familiar with your music how would you describe it - and what sort of live show can we expect?

A: We're generally pretty high energy, but we do slow it down and mellow out for some songs. We write some of our own stuff and blend a lot of old blues, western swing, bluegrass and country music together.

Q: On the same theme, who have been major influences on you and your music?

A: Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Milton Brown, Fats Waller, Bo Carter, Josh Graves, Hank Williams, the list goes on and on.

Q: Your music mixes traditional and eclectic with your own compositions - which do you prefer to perform or is the mix comfortable for you?

A: We like to do a mix. But we're writing more and more these days.

Q: Your CD releases and live performances have yielded great reviews -what do you think is the band's main appeal?

A: I don't know, we don't have any attractive women in the band, so I'm not really sure what our "main" appeal is.

Q: Do you know much about the music scene in the UK or Scotland - any bands or artistes you like particularly?

A: I know nothing, but intend to learn soon!

Q: Finally, a daft question (or maybe you've thought all of them are daft, hope not): malt or blended whisky - what's your pleasure?

A: Love it all!