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Onion Creek Crawdaddies - Irons in the Fire (SR)

One of the most refreshing things about local bluegrass favorites Onion Creek Crawdaddies is that they are what they claim to be — a bluegrass band. In an era when a lot of very different music gets passed off as bluegrass — “newgrass” or “Colorado-grass” and jam bands in particular — it’s simply refreshing to hear a band that can compose crisp new tunes with an awareness of and nod towards the genre’s traditional roots.

The band goes for broke on this, its second album. Recorded at Willie’s Pedernales Studio, Irons in the Fire is a showcase of the bandmembers’ own songwriting. The album opens with an old-time number entitled “Dusty Bibles Lead to Dirty Lives,” which represents OCC’s fusion of tradition and originality as well as any other song on the album. The tune is simultaneously nostalgic, evoking both old time religion and music, but with an aural flair of the contemporary, particularly in the vocals, that would characterize Old Crow Medicine Show or the Hackensaw Boys more than a purely traditional bluegrass band.

What is perhaps most impressive about this album though, is its success in presenting original music that evokes the best of traditional bluegrass, but that puts a distinctly Texan brand on the sound - no small feat considering that Texas historically doesn’t have a very rich bluegrass tradition and that many bands’ efforts to evoke the local flavor come off as forced or sappy, at best. But songs like “Tortilla Moon,” “The Llano Uplift” and “Saltillo Sunrise” allude to purely Texan experiences as genuine as the small local watershed from which the band takes its name.

As any good bluegrass album must, much of Irons in the Fire concerns itself with love that’s at least a little off-kilter, a little too over, a little too intense, a little too messy. But intermingled with the requisite love-gone-bad tracks are another variety, a series of uplifting tunes that remind me of springtime in the more northern latitudes, songs that, like the first bright, warming days of April in the north, make us want to get up with the sun and put us in a good mood for no particular reason. And the album’s fast-paced rhythms seem likely to inspire even more casual bluegrass fans who aren’t as fond of the genre’s slower tunes. Thankfully though, Irons in the Fire never dips into the self-indulgent, and usually boring, jamming that many contemporary “bluegrass” bands fall victim to, instead offering up among the witty and often emotional lyric numbers, three tightly composed and executed instrumentals.

Quality bluegrass is difficult to find these days, especially in the more country defined hills of Texas. And as Irons in the Fire was limited to a run of only 1,500 copies, this one may soon be hard find as well. But as the Crawdaddies plead on “Far Side of Nowhere”: “you can miss me when I’m gone, just don’t miss me while I’m here.” Don’t miss them while they’re here. 

                       - Nathan Kreuter

Websites:
www.onioncreekcrawdaddies.com
Myspace

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