I was offered a free ticket to check out Dustbowl revival, a band from Venice California, which was playing at the Mint on Saturday night.
In a day and age when music is considered as hip only if it is alternative indie pop, psychedelic punk or any other weird combination you would like, the 9 members of Dustbowl revival are inspired by the good old recipes, mixing bluegrass with New-Orleans jazz, Woody Guthrie folk, Johnny Cash country or even Django Reinhardt gypsy music. Er,.. it’s a revival band.
They are pretty much unclassifiable but they perform with the same energy and enthusiasm any of their original songs, using a whole collection of instruments, from mandolin, guitar, washboard, drums, double bass, violin, trumpet, tuba, clarinet, trombone, banjo, kazoo and even accordion for a few songs, as they had invited someone playing accordion from another band on stage, who, surprisingly ‘had never heard the songs before’.
Zach Lupetin, on guitar, vocals and kazoo, was leading his crazy band, showing a true love for all this traditional but eclectic music, and orchestrating with humor the constant dialogue between the horn section on the left side of the stage and the mandolin-violin-string section on the right. In the middle of this busy stage, Caitlin Doyle, the only girl of the band, shared her time between harmony vocals, washboard and even lead vocals.
It’s no hipster music, and sure they are not breaking any ground, but they play like the real thing, and it is so uplifting and joyous, a couple found a way to dance a devilish Charleston in the crowded room.