Folk-Punk Rising
As a teenager, I had this persistent fantasy, to the chagrin of my family, of hitting the road and riding the rails. Somewhat uncompassionately my mother and stepdad would identify me with any busker or panhandler they would see throughout their days. I’ve always been captivated by the minimalism and self-sufficiency of the down and out. Identifying as I did with the crust of culture made me somewhat anti-social as a teen, and I therefore gravitated more towards other wayward youths. Now, my general lack of skills and dependence on medication for mental well-being colluded to dash these daydreams of dallying about the wayside, but I have continued to harbor the hope of having nothing. I jealously tracked the tramping about that some of those I grew up with ended up doing and settled down myself in Uni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdgjKvDo924&start_radio=1&list=RDEdgjKvDo924
Circuitously rounding off my interests in music and participating in the local DIY scene, however, brought me into contact with folk-punk musicians across the U.S. who would come through Tampa and play at The In-Between (the venue I wrote about in regard to the local noise scene). I had the privilege of seeing Emma of She/Her/Hers play along with other bands like Rent Strike and Car Crash Requiem. Most impactfully was meeting and spending time with Jon Coleman, a local dark blues player with his hauntingly nostalgic guitar chords and growling voice along with his partner Sarah, who would accompany him with ad hoc instruments like a bow and saw to add to the eerie romanticism of living on your wits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LInBuTWhbjw
The beauty of the genre is in the range of expression utilized by the various groups which are built by the seemingly haphazard commingling of disparate individuals with varying musical talents. From the thrash grass stylings of groups like Rail Yard Ghosts and Days N Daze to the more mournful accents of Wingnut Dishwashers Union and Bridge City Sinners, they bring to bluegrass and blues a punk-infused passion with the raw disdain for convention and propriety that is distinctive of both the punk ethos and working-class grassroots rage.
Unfortunately for most, many performers in this genre play in unconventional and hard-to-find settings. I was supposed to cover the Leftover Crack show back in November of 2018 but had problems with personnel that prevented me from doing so. As fortune would have it, though, Leftover Crack will be returning to central Florida in March, during which time they will be thrashing it out with Days N Daze at Orlando’s Soundbar, providing many with the opportunity to watch and listen to some honest-to-goodness folk punk. The Oogle/tramp lifestyle may not be for all, but one cannot deny the beauty and wherewithal of these intrepid punks who continue the good ole’ tradition of leaving it all behind in the name of good company, good times, and good music.
