Saturday night I hit a show at Iota, Arlington’s down and dirty live music venue that specializes in a folk/country/bluesy kind of sound. The club really ought to give its booker a raise, no matter what he’s making. I’ve visited several times, now, to see bands I’ve never heard of. And I’ve never left disappointed.

Saturday night I left delighted. The band was a Boston group called the Tarbox Ramblers.

Radley’s live music rule #1:

If there’s a stand-up bass, you’re probably gonna’ have a good time.

Radley’s live music rule #2:

If there’s a fiddle, doubly so.

The Tarbox Ramblers had both. They also brought in masterful lead guitarist Rich Gilbert for their current tour, a guy who’s worked with some great names, and whose stage persona looks like the product of a carnal act between Carrot Top and Garth Algar.

Their sound? Hmm. Equal parts Dock Boggs, North Mississippi All-Stars, the Soggy Bottom Boys, Leadbelly, and, oh I don’t know, someone that rocks. Let’s say the Black Keys. I dare you to see them live and not break out your best hillbilly dance. They sat up on stage and aimed the musical equivalent of buckshot at every last pair of feet in the club.

Think bluegrass, mountain gospel, backwater blues, hillbilly rock, a kind of tribal percussion, all rolled into one. And once you’ve rolled it all up, go ahead and smoke it, wash it down with rye, and you’ll have the required rasp to approximate Michael Tarbox’s voice. I don’t know how he kept it up for the whole show. He’s got this phlegmy edge that eats through all the wonderful voodoo noise his bandmates conjure up, and delivers literate lyrics about railroad stations, resurections, country love, and, of course, country love that’s lost.

All Music’s most colorful reviewer, Thom Jurek, opines on the band’s recent release:

…this is the banshee’s howl after all the liquor is gone; it’s the drunken, lascivious, preacher’s moan when he’s still in the whorehouse at seven a.m. on Sunday morning; a dying bluesman’s final snarl at a world that’s left him empty and broke, and a brokenhearted cowboy’s last lament — all rolled into one.

An Agitator.com four-star recommendation.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2004 at 11:55 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.