Opener: Hackensack Boys
Venue: Century Ballroom - Portland, OR
Date: 1/13/06
REVIEW
Opening Act: The Hackensaw Boys
Charlottesville, Virginia’s Hackensaw Boys are fast-playing sons-of-a-gun. Here at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom, the floor is quite literally bouncing at a speed that makes my partner ask if it has ever accidentally caved in. These wood boards were built for dancing, but a first-time visitor to this 92-year-old ballroom might think the floors more suitable for a gymnastics routine.As the Boys speed into their version of “Hold On,” the mandolin-shredding Hackensaw comments on the 28 continuous days of rain we here in the Pacific Northwest have been enjoying. He calls out, “When that rainy northwest weather starts to get you down, there’s only one thing to do: keep your hand on the plow and hold on.”
The CDs they’re selling back at the merchandise table wear stickers that hail these guys as a cross between the Ramones and the Carter Family. I couldn’t come up with any better comparison. By the time their set ends with a crowd-participation trek through a song called “Cannonball,” (definitely not a bluegrass version of the Breeders’ rock tune), I’m ready for the twirling-inducing jam breaks of tonight’s headlining act.
Railroad Earth
After an impressively short break between sets, Railroad Earth hits the stage, and the all-ages crowd woo-hoos like a bearing-down steam train. Last time I saw this band live, the rain had been coming down, leaving the field on the hillside at Falcon Ridge nice and muddy. The weather didn’t stop the crowd from bouncingly boogying barefoot then, either.Railroad Earth is a fun bunch of well-weathered Folk players, and they put on a heck of a show. Lead singer Todd Scheaffer always looks pleased with his bandmates, while mandolin master John Skehan just flat out rips on his instrument; and multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling nonchalantly commands his beautifully subtle spotlight jams.
At one point, in the throes of a mid-song jam session, the crowd hangs so tight on Skehan’s mandolin solo, that when he hits its final note, the eruption of approval from the audience is as sudden and as sharp as a snapped rubber band. But there’s no time to hang on that solo, because as soon as it ends, master fiddler Tim Carbone leaps in with a reciprocal jam.
And for the next couple of hours, this is how the show goes on -- through two sets, and song after song of bouncy floor, under the mysterious blanket of that ain’t cigarette smoke that pervades through the old ballroom.
The Grateful Dead had their Dead Heads, and the fellows in Railroad Eareth have their Hoboes. These guys tour almost tirelessly, and have been doing so for a few years now. No doubt they’ll be in your town soon. If you’re looking for some folk-rock, bluegrass, country swing, jam band, or just a twirling good time, you should definitely make a point of turning out.
Keep an eye on their tour dates here.
