Jeff Katz

Review: Crooked Still

Crooked Still

Sugar-Coated Sinister 

Do you know Crooked Still? You should. They are hard to peg. It’s easy to call them bluegrass, but that’s not entirely accurate. They could be a folk music band from The Anthology of American Music school, but that’s not it either. Maybe they’re a blues band? As I said, hard to peg.

When I first heard them a few years back I was gripped, but I wasn’t sure exactly why. Watching them live in Cooperstown made it clear. They send a jumble of mixed messages out to the audience. Two beautiful women, three good-looking men, seemingly as sweet as can be, playing the most sinister shit, old crazy American tales of drowning girls, fiddles made of bones, you get the picture. At intermission, I mentioned my new found insight to the band and cited Dock Boggs’ “Sugar Baby” as an example. Lead singer Aoife O’Donovan was, I think, a little surprised that I knew ol’ Dock. When she told me they were opening the second set with Boggs’ “Calvary” I was very pleased with myself, you can imagine. Some bands bring exceptional musicianship that can lead to technical coldness, but Crooked Still comes at you from the soul. They are like an evil Dexy’s Midnight Runners, without the overalls and dirt.

What makes their sound deliciously dark and creepy is the upfront role of the cello, brilliantly played by Tristan Clarridge. Rushad Eggleston, the band’s first cellist who helped create Still’s unique sound, left the group in November of 2007. Some bands would crumble when an integral member flies the coop, but it’s clear when you read between the lines that the chemistry of the new lineup, with Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas, is world’s better than in Eggleston’s time. If you read between the lines, this band would’ve gone by the boards without the lineup change. That would have been tragic.

Now don’t get the idea that all this darkness of which I speak means you’re ready for a wrist-slitting after a Crooked Still show. The band is clearly having a ball and so is the audience. The between song patter is funny and real. Bassist Corey DiMario relished playing in the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and launched into knowledgeable banter about vintage baseball, recent inductee Jim Rice of the Red Sox and pleaded Pete Rose’s case to any Hall employees who may have been in the crowd.  Before “Lonesome Road,” DiMario told how a fly had landed on him during the previous tune and stayed there, no doubt enjoying Crooked Still’s version of “The Golden Vanity.” Then it alit on Clarridge, causing O’Donovan to sing “hang your head and fly.” She stopped the song because she should’ve sung “cry,” not “fly.” The insect became a fixture for the rest of the show, the band bursting into hysteria as they ended with a sing-along “Shady Grove.”

I’ve waited a bit on the other two members of the band, because they deserve some extra attention. Aoife (pronounced ee-fa) O’Donovan is, hands down, the best singer I’ve ever heard. Outrageous, right? It’s impossible to write what you hear, but she is pure crystal, other worldly almost. But not mechanical, no sir. When she sang Robert Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen,” she was a gut-busting blues woman. I’ve been listening to a lot of Janis Joplin lately and Janis couldn’t hold a candle to Aoife. Her folk stylings are as timeless as the songs themselves. She is absolutely mesmerizing and unforgettable.

Greg Liszt. Let’s see, he invented a 4-finger banjo technique. Technically speaking, the 4-finger method is one more than the 3-finger style. His proficiency led him straight from Crooked Still to Bruce Springsteen’s Seeger Session band. If that’s not enough for you, he has a PhD in molecular biology from MIT. Is that not the coolest resume in music? He’s like a comic book superhero! His banjo solo on “Kitchen” was a singular sound; think Eric Clapton meets Earl Scruggs.

An audience member told me after the show that Crooked Still were the best musicians he’d ever seen. OK, I’ll take that.  What I can tell you is that they have a new album coming out this spring, giving you a decent amount of time to catch up.

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Contributing/Music editor Jeff Katz authors a different take on rock and roll history, with new stories on backbeat Fridays, the 2nd and 4th of every month. Check him out at: http://maybebabyoryouknowthatitwouldbeuntrue.blogspot.com/