IV and the Strange Band - Son of Sin

I picked up this single after seeing IV and the Strange Band the other night, as this is the only recorded music they have at the moment (although they had an impressive amount of merch! An album is due out in June, though!) and I was quite impressed by their sound and their show. IV is, as is advertised, the great-grandson of the incredible Hank Williams, although he does not go overboard in hyping that patriarchal connection. But there is still a geneological relationship and, while IV is certainly living in the modern world, there is still some musical touchstones, as well.

Coleman (IV) has his own unique style of playing on his beat-up, unique vintage acoustic guitar, and he writes a wild tune, with interesting'n'varied chord progressions over which he tells his tale of sin in his uniquely warbling (in a good way!) voice. One side of this 45 is IV all by himself and the other side is the full band tearing into the same tune (with fiddle instead of banjo, as I saw them), giving it a heavy rock feel, but with their own wild inflections.

It's definitely difficult to describe IV and his aptly named Strange Band, as they mix so many musical ingredients but there is some of the old Williams story-telling'n'sounds, but combined with a more modern, heavy rock feel. Fans of either should dig this, I would think, so look for it and look the the excellent'n'charismatic band to be touring now and again in the summer once the album is out!