The Howlin’ Brothers, a country-blues string band plays York, PA on September 27th!
The Howlin’ Brothers, a country-blues string band whose unique blend of bluegrass, heartache, and soul is building a following all over North America, comes to York, PA, on Saturday, September 27, to open the Susquehanna Folk Music Society’s 2014-15 season with a concert at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York, 925 S. George Street. The concert will begin at 8 p.m.
The Howlin’ Brothers bring heart and passion into every performance. Their upbeat shows are heavy with original and traditional music, featuring the sounds of slide banjo, harmonica and old-time fiddle. The Howlin’ Brothers just released their latest album “TROUBLE” produced by Brendan Benson for Readymade Records. The Howlin’ Brothers are: Ben Plasse – upright bass, vocals, Ian Craft – fiddle, banjo, vocals and Jared Green – guitar, harmonica, vocals.
Concert tickets are $20 General Admission, $16 for SFMS members and $10 for students ages 3-22. Advance tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com or toll-free (800) 838-3006.
___________________________________________________
Following is a September 12, 2014 interview with band member Jared Green.
FOLKMAMA: Have you played in our area before?
JARED: I don’t believe we have played in Harrisburg or York or anywhere else in the area before.
FOLKMAMA: Can you give us a little introduction to the band?
JARED: The three of us met in Ithaca New York back in the early 2000s. We all had a common interest in acoustic music; whether it was blues, bluegrass or old-time. We started playing together around campfires.
FOLKMAMA: So when did you go to Nashville?
JARED: We moved to Nashville in 2005 and got introduced to another whole world of music like honky-tonk, rockabilly, old country music, and old-time music. So now our band plays a mix of all that stuff. We mix elements of traditional and try to write in a style that’s familiar—that incorporates old-time, bluegrass and country blues.
Our shows are pretty much half original music but you’ll hear some stuff you’ll recognize! We like to pull out some old-time fiddle tunes, for example. It’s really a fun show, it’s upbeat. Its happy songs, it’s sad songs, its danceable songs—everything from two steps to waltzes.
FOLKMAMA: Are you really siblings?
JARED: So the three of us aren’t really brothers, we grew up in different parts of the country. I grew up in Wisconsin and Ian grew up in upstate New York and Ben is originally from Halifax Nova Scotia, but grew up outside of Boston.
FOLKMAMA: Have the three of you played in other groups?
JARED: In college we all played in a rock band. We got tired of that sound and started playing acoustic guitars and banjos. Seeing people dance when we played that kind of music was just much more enjoyable. And also it was new, it was something that we hadn’t done or heard before.
FOLKMAMA: There is a real movement toward playing acoustic music, especially among young people. Do you feel like you are part of that?
JARED: Yeah, usually people use the “Americana” classification for lots of styles that incorporates some kind of country element; whether it’s an acoustic guitar, banjo or a fiddle. Americana a big thing right now, but we essentially play country music that is upbeat.
FOLKMAMA: When I listen to you I hear some really great straight- ahead bluegrass, and then on another cut I might hear some old-time and then on a different cut some country blues. It seems like rather blend the styles together you often change styles from piece to piece.
JARED: Yeah on the album we wanted to have a little bit of something for everyone. And we wanted to make the sound of each song fitting. So I think that people like that we’re eclectic or we play what we want to play and that we’re not just going to stick to one narrow genre. We do have a unique sound, I do think that’s one thing that we’ve gained over the last five years in Nashville.
FOLKMAMA: Do you ever feel limited by just having three players?
JARED: We try to fill out the sound. We’ve incorporated kick drum and high hat that Ian will play like a one man band and I have a dancing platform that I mic that creates a really nice galloping percussion.
FOLKMAMA: Do you dance?
JARED: Yeah, I do flat foot and clog dancing. I dance in cowboy boots or platform shoes.
FOLKMAMA: You recently signed on a record label. Tell me about that.
JARED: We signed onto a Nashville record company owned by Brendan Benson who is a rocker. We met him in Nashville and he really liked what we were doing. The first album we did with him was Howl which came out in 2013 It had a good mix of old time and blues and we had another CD that came out in May of this year that’s called Trouble, and that’s been well received too. It’s the first album that we did with all originals. Ricky Skaggs played on it which was pretty cool.
FOLKMAMA: How did the sound change after you signed on? I understand that you’re touring more.
JARED: Yeah, that’s the thing. We’ve been a local Nashville band for so many years; we made money playing around Tennessee mostly. So now we have a producer and people helping us to book shows, it took Brendan saying that he wanted to put us on his label to make that happen. Now they are playing us on the radio and you can buy us in record stores. It’s a total good change. It did change our sound a little bit, but it made us write more songs.
It’s really been a really busy last few years. We made that second album the same week that my wife and I had our first baby. We went into the studio—the second day we had the baby—I was gone for four days then I came back, spent four more days and finished the album.
Also you might want to mention that we’re going to Europe in October. Three weeks in October so it will be exciting. We’re going to the UK (England and Scotland) and Holland and doing 16 shows.
FOLKMAMA: Was it an aspiration for the band to do a lot of touring.
JARED: Oh, it was necessary growth. It was a necessary step for the band.
FOLKMAMA: I understand that you do a video at Sun studio that’s been televised on PBS? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzYlGfCz1Ks)
JARED: Yeah we did that last summer. We went down there for an evening and recorded six songs. They’ve been playing it all over the country on PBS. People will come to our shows and say, “Hey I saw you on PBS last week.” They just played it in Harrisburg and Lancaster, but they’ll repeat it I think.
Folkmama's Blog 