Head for the Hills: Bluegrass in GF and Fargo

It must be spring or it’s just the lonesome moan of a fiddle and the diddling of a mandolin putting that smile on your face and gittin yer toe a-tappin. If you’re up for a great night of bluegrass, traditional and new, come on over to the Crosstown on Thursday, the first day of spring, and check out Head for the Hills, a four-piece newgrass group from Fort Collins, Colorado. Heating up the stage for them will be Fargo’s Johnson Family Band, presenting traditional and old-timey bluegrass tunes.

North Dakota was put on this leg of the Head for the Hills tour that is supporting their brand-spanking new CD, Robbers Roost, which sounds like it ought to be a Eudora Welty collection of tales about the quirkiness of the human condition. In truth, this debut CD has tenderness and some craziness but is not as broad as a Legionnaire’s disc. It is more a reflection of the varied backgrounds that these pickers and grinners come out of and still perform in.
Formed in 2004, the band came together mainly for fun. “When we created the band, we didn’t really know that we were actually going to be starting a band and trying to be successful,” says Matt Chapell, the mandolin player of the group. All students at the time, they didn’t realize that they could make something of their sound until about a year later. That was when they began to tour, as their schedules allowed.
But what emerged in Head for the Hills was not your typical bluegrass band, though they can handle that traditional idiom well enough. None of them really grew up playing bluegrass, finding it only five or six years ago. They have, however, brought a considerable range of other influences and playing abilities into the mix. Chapell started out playing electric and acoustic guitar. “I was trying to play punk rock.,” Chapell admits. Adam Kinghorn (guitar) also was grounded in metal and punk. Matt Lowen, bass, is still into Frank Zappa and classic rock.

But Joe Lessard, the fiddle player, is the ringer in the band. He’s in two straight-up, hip-hop groups, outside of his work with Head for the Hills. In fact, one song on the CD, “Scribes Eye,” is a hip-hop tune with some jazz/techno strains coming through the bluegrass instrumentation.
“We try to use that,” Chapell says, instead of trying to restrict Lessard’s urban bent. “That’s what appeals to him. It’s kind of like a meeting of the minds. We all have different views. We kind of use each other’s influences and try to work accordingly and write accordingly…We’re trying to do other styles of music when we play, not just playing bluegrass, maybe some jazz songs or something like that into our repertoire….We’ve done things lately that have had a little more rock and roll flair to it, as far as adding the occasional electric instrument and that sort of thing. Our main focus is always make sure to always get back to traditional roots but to feel free to expand a little bit and follow our other influences.”

Another song, “AmonMonita"is jazz-laced and moody, set off by the fiddle. “Delphi Stomp” and “Vacant Train ” have a Railroad Earth feel. “Robber’s Roost” that has gypsy fiddle influences. Then there are the tender tunes, “The Creek Has Run Dry"and “Thunderstorm.”

Everyone sings in the band, but not necessarily in every song. The CD is blessed with the guest voices of Sally Van Meter, who produced the album, and Alli Repetti. Still, the four male voices manage respectably.

Chappel admits, “We don’t have a drummer so it’s kind of hard to really rock.” However, they manage to create some interesting percussion with guitar and other things on a tune or two. You will be pleased at how they can rock.

With two members still in college, they haven’t been able to venture far during the winter months. But summer brings the opportunity to tour more and with it the upcoming festivals.
 

If You Go:

WHAT: Head for the Hills w/ Johnson Family Band
WHERE: Crosstown Lounge, GF; Aquarium
WHEN: Thurs, Mar 20; Sat, Mar 22, 9 pm.
HOW MUCH: $5
WHO: 21+ID
INFO: (701) 575-0612; 235-5913