This evening I went to a performance by a band called Strawfoot at the downtown branch of the St. Louis Public Library. The library’s newsletter billed them as “dirge country” but wikipedia calls them alt-country; I could go with punk-folk or just exactly the kind of weird that’s right up my alley.
The show was quite the interesting experience. It was out on the patio, and I would say that about half the attendees were homeless, including one woman who sat in the front row and made incoherent requests. She actually had an excellent ear; during breaks she’d be singing the songs. There was also a woman who spent most of the concert trying to get the very last bit out of her Pepto-Bismol bottle (adding water and swishing it around, standing it upside down then licking the cap and the opening of the bottle, etc).
The actual music was really good! Several of their songs reminded me a lot of the Pogues. They covered a few old-school country songs, as well as Alice in Chains’ “Rooster” with fiddle runs in place of guitar riffs - it was great. Sadly, as with too many live shows, their sound was poorly mixed with the amps turned up way too high, and we couldn’t make out the lyrics most of the time. Song topics that were either announced or audible included temptation, politics, drinking, heaven/hell, unlucky love, and dyslexia. The last had a refrain beginning with “oh my Dog.”
It turns out that their latest CD is available as a DRM-free digital download so I think I’m going to buy it.