You know how Denton's Boxcar Bandits refer to their music as "skunkgrass"?
Well, the Austin quartet MilkDrive appears to have shrugged when pegging a buyer for its sound. The foursome simply slapped on the catch-all label "alt-folk-progressive acoustic string band" and went about defying each of those genres - except for maybe folk.
We prefer to think of MilkDrive's music as "jazzabirdgrass."
Even when the group covers the hearth-and-home holiday tune "The Christmas Song," hints of jazz harmony and syncopation sneak into the tune. It gives a brief shade of sophistication to the folksy, bluegrass frame through which the band views the music. And yet this group can fix a jig that would make the Chieftains grin.
The band isn't hurting for heft. Award-winning fiddler and mandolin player Dennis Ludiker was living in Austin when guitarist and former camp-mate Noah Jeffries bunked with him as a roommate. Fiddler Brian Beken was also sharing their digs.
Jeffries enlisted Ludiker to record a demo, and Beken joined when Jeffries and Ludiker decided they wanted a live act. Eventually, South Austin Jug Band upright bassist Matt Mefford migrated to the group.
The musicians are still touring in support of Road From Home, the album MilkDrive released last April. Bill VornDick - who's worked with Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck, Bob Dylan and Ralph Stanley - brought the men to Nashville to record.
Sounds like: A bluegrass band set for a spell in Manhattan. Fans of Denton's Seryn should prick up their ears.
-Lucinda Breeding
