Appalachian-urban folk heroes, the Harkenbacks play a
brand of music that, while steeped in mythic Americana,
sure isn’t afraid to confront the modern age. Trusting in
battered wooden instruments and their own voices, The
Harkenbacks clap, stomp, crow and croon, singing traditional
songs penned yesterday alongside contemporary material
written before your grandmother was born. Fiddle, guitar,
mandolin and upright bass roll along behind the vocals,
with occasional blasts of harmonica, tambourine and even
kazoo. Their eclectic and electric performances have been
lighting up stages and festivals around their Oakland, CA
home, and they’re launching their second album, Farmless,
with a national radio campaign. The Harkenbacks blend of
twanged-out honky-tonk and hard-driving mountain picking
could be the just the thing to heal some of our worried blues
these days.
The recipe to pour a Harkenbacks cocktail would involve one
part Corry-Jo Harkenback’s enchanting melodic tenor, two
parts the high and low harmonizing vocals of brothers Paul
and Jeremiah Harkenback, and one part veteran performer
uncle-brother Howlin’ Ray Wilcox on percussion and guitar.
Add a twist of the wry ghost songwriting of Uncle Alex
Cory and you’ll have a drink with quite a kick, and an idea
of the creative forces behind the band. As a quartet, the
Harkenbacks have been tearing it up at farmer’s markets
and festivals, building a name for their high-energy stage
show and all-the-way-to-the-back-of-the-room vocals.
