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.357 String Band ($7) (Opening Act: Lady Cannon)
08/13/2010 9:00 PM
The Wisconsin state motto is simple – “Forward.” Milwaukee’s own .357 String Band epitomizes this spirit:
Blasting out of a dark basement in their blue collar hometown, The .357 String Band have spent the last 5 years criss-crossing America and Europe in half-broken down tour vans and busses, paying their dues anywhere and everywhere, from filthy rock and roll clubs to international music festivals. Established in 2004, they have brought their inimitably relentless style of Americana from the West Coast of the United States to as far east as Serbia, playing over 500 shows in 10 different countries, and honing their razor sharp sound and adrenaline-fueled live show with a grueling tour schedule.
Anything but derivative, The .357 String Band pays homage to both the dark roots of Americana – the fatalistic murder ballads, sneering Outlaw Country and unforgiving Gospel – as well as their own background coming of age in Milwaukee’s Punk and Rockabilly scenes. The result is a faster, meaner folk music – something the band calls “Streetgrass.”
Forgoing drums and using only stringed instruments (and the occasional megaphone), The .357 String Band plays with all the fire and fury of Rock & Roll; with an often surprising musical and lyrical refinement. Replete with mythology and mysticism, religious imagery and Biblical reference, The .357 String Band’s music ultimately engages with life here on Earth - the struggle of human beings to reconcile conflicting impulses and emotions is at the core of their music. With lyrics that can be as dark as the human soul at its worst, the music can’t be called negative – rather, it serves as a grim-yet-hopeful reminder that only by fully embracing the demons inside each of us can we exorcise them.
Impossible to pin down to any one genre, The .357 String Band have won accolades from fans of many different styles of music - completely at home sharing the stage with a Punk band in a dive bar, they were also voted “Best Country” by the Shepherd Express’ People’s Choice Awards in 2007, as well as winning “Best Bluegrass” in the 2008 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards. They have played with bands from many different genres, successfully sharing the stage with Old Time American string bands like Old Crow Medicine Show and The Hackensaw Boys; Outlaw Country like Hank Williams III, Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies, and Wayne “The Train” Hancock; Blues bands like Rev. Peyton ’s Big Damn Band and The Black Diamond Heavies; Punk bands, including the infamous ANTiSEEN, and The Murder Junkies; as well as many bands that, like .357 themselves, defy easy categorization, such as The Avett Brothers, Wovenhand and Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers.
.357 String Band Official Site
A singer with the voice of Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and the ghosts of authentic American folk: Lady Cannon is a fresh take on well-worn traditions. Splitting its time between realistic romance and a jugband's whimsy, Lady Cannon draws from timeless themes—love, loss and the like—and updates the spirit of back porch sing-alongs for the indie-minded. (ERIC LEWEN, freelance writer/music critic)
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