The Pine Hill Haints - 13

 

Of course, any time that Jamie comes to Vegas, I have to pick up whatever new music that I can - and he always has something and usually multiple new items - the man is nothing if not prolific! This orange-colored, Halloween-inspired 13th LP from the Haints continues in the quest of resurrecting Alabama Ghost Country Music and spreading the word to all who will listen. The line up this time out is Jamie (James the Fang) on vocals, guitar and fiddle, his lovely wife Katie Kat on singing saw, washboard and mandolin (and the excellent front cover painting), Stevie on washtub bass, Justin on accordion and Ernie Criminal Class (that's what the cover says!) on snare! 

So while the sound is fairly open'n'sparse, purposefully, of course, it does have enough of a band feel to fill things out. Their mix of old school folk, Americana, country, blues, zydeco, bluegrass and whatever else falls into the mix continues here with songs like "Halloween in New Orleans", "Your Wooden Heart is Dead", "Cemetary Dance", and traditional numbers like "Short Life of Trouble" and "Wolves O'Howlin'", among others. 

I truly love this combo and collect whatever I can whenever I can, although I assume that there is always more and there are always side projects that are impossible to keep up with. In any case, if you dig old school acoustic-y Americana, while there are some great combos doing similar stuff, I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone else doing it better and with more originality. Always highly recommended and see Jamie currently touring with Serious Sam Barrett when they come to your town!