Railroad Earth hosts the 2nd Annual Hangtown Halloween Ball
A Review by Ken Kiunke
Staff Writer
31 Bands descended on Placerville the weekend before Halloween to celebrate the season and bring a wide variety to music to fans from all over, many of whom camped out for the three-day festival at the 2nd Annual Hangtown Halloween Ball. A casual glance at the lineup made me think this was a Bluegrass festival, with headliners Railroad Earth and the famous Del McCoury Band, along with bands such as Greensky Bluegrass and The Infamous Stringdusters. But the music was wide and varied, and the overall feel of the event was more akin to a jam band fest in the mode of the Grateful Dead, Phish, the String Cheese Incident and others.
My first clue, however, that this wasn't just bluegrass should have been the inclusion of Karl Denson's Tiny Universe Presents Beastie Boys Tribute. (I guess I first thought it might be some cool fusion of bluegrass with rap music....) They were one of the headline acts on Saturday night, and opened with a half hour of Denson and band playing a 30-minute, funk rock set, featuring sax, trumpet, guitar, bass, drums and organ. The band is tight, with a powerful sound reminiscent of the JB's, James Brown's backing band. The crowd was into it, and when they brought out Slightly Stoopid's Kyle, DeLa and OG to recreate the Beastie Boys 80's proto rap sound, the crowd went wild. But the band itself was the driver, with Denson on sax playing in tandem with Chris Littlefield on trumpet with guitarist DJ Williams burning it up, while drummer John Staten kept the whole thing moving. Photo by Ken Kiunke: The Beastie Boys recreated on Saturday night
The Hangtown Halloween Ball, in its second year in Placerville at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, is a three-day, music festival that offers camping onsite as part of the three-day pass. Keep in mind: tent camping is a group affair, with tents pitched all over the site, usually right next to another, so privacy is not part of the deal, unless you pay extra to bring an RV. The event is listed as family friendly, and there were quite a few kids in attendance. They provide a Kids Zone area with activities such as glitter tattoos, hula hoops, crafts, and pumpkin carving. Parents planning on bringing kids should keep in mind that this is still a music festival, with plenty of “free spirits” on hand, adult language, and cigarette smoke that sometimes smells a bit “different”. There is a small but varied selection of food choices on hand, and the ones I sampled were very good, including handmade pizza, Mexican food, and Greek Gyros. Vendor booths are also arrayed around the main stage grounds, featuring lots of clothing, jewelry, and other handicrafts. Photo by Ken Kiunke: The event had plenty of artistic activities in addition to the music
With 31 bands and three stages, there is always something to listen to, and a pretty good variety of musical styles. On Friday, I caught Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers blues rock sound, Mojo Green's funky beat based horn sound, and Tumbleweed Wanderers, a band that was a bit elusive to describe, but held my interest with their modern pop sound that has a foot deep into bluegrass and folk with the inclusion of banjo, acoustic guitar, and tight three-part harmonies. They describe their sound as “street folk and indie soul” which sounds about right. Just seeing Jeremy Lyon with his curly red hair is enough to draw your attention, and then the music draws you in. In their Saturday show Lyon fell over after a big finish, and split his lip, but went on to the next song with blood dripping down his chin. But he went on in good spirits, and the band highly amused.
Highlights of Saturday included the Polyrhythmics, a truly poly-rhythmic outfit mixing funk beats with a horns and flute, creating smooth dance grooves and a jazz rock fusion that reminded me of Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. Their set brought a lot of dancers to their feet in front of the stage. Meanwhile, Pickwick, a 6-piece Seattle band, creates a full sound rooted in 60's and 70's soul music. Singer Galen Disston channels Otis Redding to create what I thought of as “Green-eyed soul” (6 white guys with dark hair don't exactly fit as blue-eyed soul). Photo by Ken Kiunke: Pickwick
One of my goals in going to a music festival of any kind is to discover a band I have never heard of that touches my soul and makes me want to hear more. Oregon's Blind Pilot was that band. They sort of fit into the “Indie Rock” category, a 6-piece band with guitar, banjo, stand up and electric bass, electric vibes, keyboard, drums, trumpet, ukulele, dulcimer, accordion, they create a moving sound reminiscent of Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian, the Decemberists, and Glenn Hansard. Lead singer Isreal Nebeker's melodic vocals harmonize with banjo player Kati Claborn and bassist Luke Ydstie, while drummer Ryan Dobrowski, vibraphonist Ian Krist and keyboardist Dave Jorgensen fill out the sound. Then Jorgensen's trumpet will flow over the whole thing to lift it to another level. I was drawn in and wanted more.
Sunday brought in the real traditional Bluegrass, with the world famous Del McCoury Band leading the way. McCoury, once a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, brought together two of his sons and other top musicians to form the Del McCoury Band, an award winning group, and members of the Grand Ole Opry. They treated the Sunday afternoon crowd to a rousing set of acoustic bluegrass at its best. Then the band, minus Del, came back as Keller Williams with the Travelin' McCourys, featuring singer/guitarist Keller Williams, for another great set of bluegrass songs featuring guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass and fiddle, and the distinctive bluegrass harmony singing. One of the many highlights of their set was a version of “Pumped Up Kicks”, the hit Foster The People song done in bluegrass style. Photo by Ken Kiunke: Keller Williams and the Travelin' McCourys
Of course, headlining Sunday, and every night, was Railroad Earth, the New Jersey band who served as host of this both this year's and last year's Ball. I spoke with Railroad Earth's mandolin player John Skelan about Railroad Earth's music, which has been variously described as bluegrass, “new grass”, jam band and rock. “I think of us as an amplified string band with traditional and original music. We originally had just traditional bluegrass instruments, but we added drums and electrified instruments, which kind of violates the rules of bluegrass music.” I asked him if they were influenced by the New Jersey sound of Bruce Springsteen and others like him. He said there is a vibrant bluegrass and original music scene there, and all over America. Railroad Earth's multi instrumentalist Andy Goessling was a big part of the original bluegrass scene in New Jersey. Photo by Karen Kiunke: The Author with Railroad Earth's John Skelan
What has become a sort of tradition in the two-year incarnation of the Hangtown Halloween Ball is a Friday night silent horror movie accompanied by music improvised by Railroad Earth. Last year was the early Dracula film “Nosferatu”; this year they featured “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde”. Skelan said that the event was a “wild ride, and a challenge. The idea came from trying to figure out what to do on the first night. They thought of doing an acoustic set, but since it was Halloween, someone thought of doing an old, silent horror film, but replacing the traditional organ accompaniment with the band improvising.” Skelan said they approach it by “working up a few themes and ideas, and rolling with it.” Because they are so familiar with each other, they are able to follow each other's leads to make it work. Photo by Ken Kiunke: Railroad Earth's climactic performance
I also asked Skelan about the band's website, which features a page called “the Forecast” culling articles about global warming. He said that particular feature was related to a song on their album “Amen Corner”, and that they partner up with a lot of causes and charities for their shows, including environmental organizations, food banks, and http://Riverkeeper.org back on the east coast. Skelan said it was great for them to participate in festivals like this, because they get to reconnect with a lot of old friends, like Greensky Bluegrass, who also appeared Sunday at the festival. Being there for all three days, they do have some opportunities to check out a lot of the other bands playing, many of whom they have known for quite a while. Photo by Ken Kiunke: The Tumbleweed Wanderers
Railroad Earth finished off the three-day event with a two-set show on the main stage, which highlighted the great singing and virtuoso playing of the 6-member band. Their music is indeed firmly rooted in the bluegrass tradition, with the strong mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and guitar sounds, but adding the power of the drums and electric bass bring them into the “jam band” world, as the crowd eagerly danced and sang along with their favorites. Todd Scheaffer led the band with Skelan and Goessling on mandolins and various stringed instruments; Tim Carbone on fiddle; Andrew Altman on bass; and Carey Harmon on drums and backing vocals. The group closed out a fun and successful three-day celebration of music and Halloween in the Gold Country foothills.
http://www.hangtownhalloween.com
http://www.railroadearth.com
http://www.tsunamipublicity.com
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