The Blue Rock Boys have been thumping their acoustic mischief since September, 2003. Formed on Blue Rock St. in Northside Cincinnati, by longtime friends Bill Williams, Pete Wood and Erin Daugherty, they stumbled their way into creating their own blend of Irish and American roots music. They spent 2004 playing at noteworthy Cincinnati establishments such as the Comet Bar, Northside Tavern (where they reign the last Sunday of every month), the Southgate House, CCM student radio, WAIF 88.3, and events such as the Newport Irish Heritage Festival, the Ten Years Late Scooter Club annual rally, and various productions of the Black Hoody Nation (anarcho-poetry thugs). Having been steeped in Irish and Appalachian traditional music from childhood, the Blue Rock Boys fused this rekindled cultural enthusiasm with the many styles of music they had played previously. Their backgrounds in jazz, soul, ska, and hardcore punk rock become obvious in their rambunctious approach, making traditional songs sometimes quite unorthodox. In August of 2006 they released "Volume 1", a collection of mostly traditional Irish and Americana songs and tunes, to much acclaim (particularly by relatives, close friends, drunks, and the disenfranchised). Still, their real energy is in their live show. Sometimes, even the "I'm too hip to move" head-nodders are clapping their hands, stamping their feet and sloshing their beers around. Large amounts of whiskey are imbibed. Old blue-collar men dance with young tattooed women. It's a hell of a lot of fun.
|
