Concert Review: The Hackensaw Boys and Bhi Bhiman @ The Red Devil Lounge, 11/2

The Bay Area music scene, for all its pretensions to diversity and multi-culturalism, is in fact guilty of the same regionalism as everywhere else in the country. Our music of saturation: four-man dyed-hair Indie, punk and Emo bands, drawn like moths to a flame from suburbs and cities coast to coast, and incubated with regularity and efficiency in our local high schools and used album stores. Therefore the show at The Red Devil Lounge in Nob Hill, SF Sunday night, featuring inimitable folk-rocker Bhi Bhiman and the well-known, hugely talented bluegrass group the Hackensaw Boys, was a welcome change, and a good case for a little Americana variety coming in to de-homogenize our over-trendy music clubs.

Bhi Bhiman, a local soloist extremely difficult to categorize, took the stage first and struck a mostly somber tone. With a tremulous, expressive voice backed by a well-handled folk guitar, Bhiman’s music has a poeticism and originality of interpretation that at its best recalls Joan Baez and the folk-rock early days of Bob Dylan. His style is an interesting study in perspective and thoughtfulness, and somehow confounds expectations that the audience might not have realized they had. A good example is his single “Thrilla in Wasilla,” a surprisingly dark ballad about the political phenom that is Sarah Palin. When he announced the song’s subject the audience chuckled lightly, anticipating a little Tina Fey-style satire. But with the first mournful opening chords it became instantly clear that Bhiman wasn’t going for laughs, but rather starkly exploring the more menacing implications of her recent political power, and in a manner more personal than partisan (“It’s like a dress suit on Godzilla/her baby boy’s a stuffed chinchilla”). Much of his stuff is pretty dark, indeed at times so dark that it almost sounds like even he isn’t enjoying it. He might consider that a little levity could go a long way (a la “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”). But with such a unique style and voice who knows what’d work and what wouldn’t. As Bhiman is pretty young, and just beginning to break into the larger music scene, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes in the next few years.

The Hackensaw Boys took the stage next, and pretty much brought down the house. Next to Bhiman’s sober poetics the Hackensaw Boys struck a huge contrast, bringing upbeat, foot-tapping rhythms, tremendous energy and an overall joy in execution that would’ve brought a smile to Thom Yorke’s face.

They clearly know their craft well. The band was founded in 1999 by Tom Peloso of Modest Mouse and Robert “Mahlone” Bullington,” and the number of players has ranged from as few as four to as many as twelve since then. Last night they were six, and there wasn’t a weak link, nor was there a single track that demanded less than total command and musical confidence. From Shawn Galbraith on a tight, driving banjo, to Ferd Moyse sawing like hell on the fiddle, the players showed great versatility and enthusiasm. The Hackensaw Boys’ bluegrass, staying true to the genre’s roots, is almost utilitarian in its focus: you go see them to have a good time and to let off some steam. Thus they thoroughly understand the music they play. They reiterate again and again in interviews that they are constantly re-working and updating their sound, keeping it fresh and in touch. This is an important and heartening thing for American music in general, helping to demonstrate the universal language that speaks to everyone even from the most culturally removed places (like from the Deep South to San Francisco) and in the most divisive of times (like in the months before a presidential election). This kind of music is valuable, and it doesn’t come around here often. The next time they’re in town I recommend you make a point of seeing them.