Ambassadors of Americana music around the world, Hackensaw Boys are about to embark on an international tour that sees them going from Europe this month to the United States and Canada next month. And to celebrate the band has released the second single from their forthcoming album due out June 24.
We are so pleased to premier the new release “My Turn”
Roots music shapeshifters Hackensaw Boys make a triumphant return with their new self-titled album due out in June. Known for their energetic live shows, the band have been operating as a sort of musical collective for over two decades now, carving a songline that traverses all genres of American roots music. They’ve toured nearly constantly, playing festivals all over the world, sharing stages with the likes of De La Soul and Cheap Trick, and even working as Charlie Louvin’s touring band. They’ve been featured on NPR and Pitchfork, where Amanda Petrusich aptly described their music as a “grassy tornado with brazen punk attitude”. Through it all they’ve adapted their sound, as well as their lineup, to serve their songs with a workman-like ethic. It was during the recording and release of their last EP A Fireproof House Of Sunshine (Free Dirt Records) that David Sickmen realized he was doing his best work. This motivated him to “stay out of his own way” during the making of their new self-titled album, a free-wheeling romp through roots music that includes hardcore roots instrumentals, country rug-cutters, and folk rock gems. Produced by Park Chisolm (Kevin Costner & Modern West), Hackensaw Boys is chock full of classic, catchy Hackensaw sounds while achieving a new level of unapologetic honesty and vulnerability via Sickmen’s well-honed, salt-of-the-earth songwriting.
After a six year hiatus, and a battle with vocal polyps that resulted in surgery, founding member, songwriter, and guitarist David Sickmen assumed leadership of the band. He says “…after struggling internally for years to decide what was Hackensaw Boys material and what was not, I realized my life experiences are actually what makes the songs real for me, and therefore good Hackensaw material.” In 2015 he developed an ethos “to play good shows, and be responsible citizens,” which has fueled the group’s longevity and helped them to weather the ebb and flow of musical tastes du jour, as “alt-country” transitioned to “Americana”. Hackensaw Boys have been around so long that Sickmen’s own son Jonah has now joined the ranks on this new effort, taking lead on one of the band’s more notorious innovations, the charismo—an instrument that symbolizes the ever evolving nature of the band. The charismo is a collection of found objects, worn like a washboard, but played percussively like a drum set. The amalgamation of sounds from tin cans and scrap steel, often picked up on the road and attached to the one of a kind instrument, lend a one of a kind sound to the band, and a sound that changes just a bit as the years pass by.
Hackensaw Boys opens with “Things We’re Doing” a hot flatpicking number backed by atmospheric fiddle. Sickmen sings “the past, you’ll see, it ain’t no place to be,” encouraging a progressive outlook even as their music digs further into the well tilled soil of roots music for their original sound. By the second song “Mary Shelley” Hackensaw Boys are again breaking new ground. Sickmen is singing his level best about the myths that can be repeated so often they become our reality. It’s promethean in its structure, essentially an uptempo pop song played on acoustic instruments, propelled by ringing mandolin, jangling guitars and plucky charismo. The song is a years-long realization for Sickmen, who wrote it in Berlin over a decade ago. “As soon as we talked about making a new record the guys all asked if we could record the Mary Shelley song,” he says “so I realized that these experiences I’ve been living for years are the Hackensaw Boys sound”. The tempo does not let up on “The Weights” as the band achieves a full sound anchored by Chris Stevens deep, woody upright, fronted by Caleb Powers appropriately scratchy fiddle on a cheeky song about the weight of personality types on working relationships. Powers then switches to banjo, bounding in on the uptempo “Cages We’re Grown In” another song about turning adversity into advantage, celebrating the human spirit in the way only Hackensaw Boys can. Never resting on their laurels, Hackensaw Boys make the switch to a Texas two-stepper on “My Turn”. Sickmen sings in duet with Sara Beck (Kevin Costner & Modern West), and one can almost see couples shuffling across a roadhouse floor as Sickmen sings “I suppose if you leave, I’ll have it comin to me, and I’m beggin you to stay, and try to relearn to love me”. “These are songs I’ve been carrying around for years, I’ve found love and lost love and found it again since then, but these things stick with me”. Finding comfort in the hardpan of dirt road country, Hackensaw Boys cruise into “Stranger” shifting into four time on a song about taking a chance on a stranger as a method to better oneself. It’s clear Sickmen and the band have been workshopping some of these songs for years. Now the band has come full circle, recording David’s most affecting material – full of their most vulnerable and honest songwriting.
Much has been said about Hackensaw Boys’ ability to constantly push forward in roots music since 1999, and rightfully so. Sure, their collective has at times seen now-famous solo artists such as John R. Miller and Pokey LaFarge among their ranks. Yes, they’ve shared stages with huge names ranging from Del McCoury to Modest Mouse. But what is perhaps most important about Hackensaw Boys is their steadfast commitment to leading new generations into a world of roots music that honors the legacy of the sound, while finding ways to forge ahead. They’ve got a sound so intentional and so original that one might even mistake the deep cut Bob Dylan cover “All I Really Want To Do” for a Hackensaw original, and it’s a testament to their own writing. Hackensaw Boys have found a way to spiritually combat the battle of attrition that eventually kills most bands, and it’s a straightforward one. They’ve simply remained true to their mission statement: “to raise a little hell, encourage a more peaceful world, and bring the music back to its roots in a working-class American vernacular.” Twenty three years in, they’re doing their best work.
David Sickmen- Vocals / Guitar / Songwriter
Jonah Sickmen – Charismo
Caleb Powers – Fiddle / banjo / mando
Chris Stevens – Upright Bass
Additional Players:
Sara Beck (duet vocals)
Parker Chisolm (bouzouki)
TOUR DATES:
MAY 11 WED
Le Brin de Zinc @ 7:00pm
MAY 13 FRI
Bühler Bluegrass Festival @ 3:00pm
Bühl, Germany
MAY 14 SAT
L’Entropot @ 7:00pm
Arlon, Belgium
MAY 15 SUN
Dranouter Muziekcentrum @ 7:00pm
Dranouter, Belgium
MAY 16 MON
t’ Groot Verzet @ 7:00pm
Lint, Belgium
MAY 17 TUE
Rotown @ 7:00pm
Rotterdam, Netherlands
MAY 18 WED
Victorie @ 7:00pm
Alkmaar, Netherlands
MAY 19 THU
Iduna @ 7:30pm
Drachten, Netherlands
MAY 20 FRI
Salle René Magritte @ 7:00pm
Lessines, Belgium
MAY 21 SAT
Poppodium Twente : Metropool @ 8:30pm
Enschede, Netherlands
MAY 22 SUN
Eupen Musik Marathon @ 7:00pm
Antwerpen, Belgium
MAY 24 TUE
Kunstkeller 027 @ 7:00pm
Fürth, Germany
MAY 25 WED
Stimmen der Welt Festival @ 7:00pm
Neustadt, Germany
MAY 26 THU
Mijl Op Zeven @ 7:00pm
Ospel, Netherlands
MAY 27 FRI
De Singer @ 7:00pm
Rijkevorsel, Belgium
MAY 28 SAT
n9 @ 7:00pm
Eeklo, Belgium
JUN 18 SAT
Oats Park Arts Center @ 7:30pm
Fallon, NV, United States
FREE
JUN 23 THU
ROMP Festival 2022 @ 11:30pm
Owensboro, KY, United States
JUN 25 SAT
Jackpine Music Festival 2022 @ 12:00pm
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
JUL 30 SAT
Grass in the glades 2022 @ 12:00pm
Gibbon Glade, PA, United States
LINKS
http://hackensawboys.com
https://www.facebook.com/<wbr />hackensawboys
https://twitter.com/<wbr />hackensawboys?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/<wbr />hackensawboys/?hl=en
To submit an article an article or review, or to just say hello hit us at [email protected]
Also- check out the search feature in the upper right hand corner and search for your favorite artist, event, venue or genre. You’ll be surprised at what you find!
Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements.
