2012 press release
Fronted by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Travis Ward, Hillfolk Noir’s peculiar take on traditional acoustic mountain music is filtered through a half-century of folk, country and rock ‘n’ roll and fed by an affinity for medicine show culture and Depression-era string-band blues. The band calls it Junkerdash, which has multiple definitions up to and including “psychedelic swamp-shack rags.” However, if you’re looking for something neat and tidy to place in print or casual conversation, feel free to use current music-journalism parlance and call it “indie folk.”
Hillfolk Noir’s touring lineup usually but not always consists of:
Travis Ward: resonator guitar, vocals, suitcase, harmonica, kazoo, words
Mike Waite: stand-up bass
Alison Ward: singing saw, washboard, banjo, harmonies
Hillfolk Noir is touring behind its latest album, Hillfolk Noir Radio Hour (March 2012). The full-length studio recording is sequenced like an old-timey radio program straight out of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, complete with commercial breaks plugging a bunch of fake products they made up. The album is available on CD, MP3 and limited-edition 10-inch vinyl packaged to resemble a 1920s-era 78 (but sounding much better).
Hillfolk Noir has performed with Built to Spill, James McMurtry, Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Deer Tick, Gourds, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gerald Collier, Heroes and Villains, Train, Jesse Dayton, The Dusty 45s, Neva Dinova and tons of other great acts that you may or may not have heard of. The good Junkerdash word also has been spread on countless American street corners because the Hillfolkers hold the busking tradition in high regard and, well, sometimes they need the gas money…
A sampling of accolades for Hillfolk Noir:
“Hillfolk Noir have made a classic roots record using old style, one mic, low-fi technology, the music is fantastic but the feel of the record “Skinny Mammy’s Revenge” has captured the passion and love of this genre absolutely perfectly. As soon as you hear it, you are there with them, in that circle of musicians, hearing up-close their great songs, the heartfelt stories and you are next to them for every note… a roots classic without a doubt.”
~ Barry Marshall-Everitt, House of Mercy Radio
“Hillfolk Noir – modern day old time wonderment.”
~ Rick Stuart, Roots and Fusion Radio of Pure Radio, UK
“If John Steinbeck had a Speakeasy, Hillfolk Noir would be the house band.”
~ John Doe, of John Doe, X, The Sadies, and The Knitters
Bio to be continued….
2011 press release
5 QUESTIONS WITH HILLFOLK NOIR
1. Are you really “hillfolk”?
We’re reasonably normal 21st-century urban dwellers with cell phones and city-people jobs. Yet our Idaho roots reach into shadowy corners of the state where the echoes of settlers still reverberate off the walls of the valleys. We sing happy and sad songs of our ancestors and happy and sad songs of our own — sometimes they’re one and the same. It’s like Guy Clark says: “Somedays the songs write you.”
2. Are you a quartet? A trio? A duo? A dude?
Depends on the day. The possible mathematical combinations are too many to list here (and we’re only confounding people more by playing SXSW as a quintet for the first time). The one constant is our main man Travis Ward, Hillfolk’s lead singer, guitarist, chief songwriter and visionary. Our performance lineup typically looks like this:
Travis Ward: National guitar, vocals, harmonica, kazoo, suitcase, words
Mike Waite: Stand-up bass
Alison Ward: Singing saw, washboard, banjo, harmonies
3. What the heck is Junkerdash?
Junkerdash is a term we applied to our peculiar take on traditional acoustic mountain music, which is filtered through a half-century of folk, country and rock ‘n’ roll and fed by our affinity for medicine show culture and Depression-era string-band blues. If Junkerdash were in the dictionary, there would be multiple definitions up to and including “psychedelic swamp-shack rags.” However, if you’re looking for something neat and tidy to place in print or casual conversation, feel free to use current music-journalism parlance and call it “indie folk.”
4. What’s the Hillfolk Noir Radio Hour?
The Hillfolk Noir Radio Hour is our new album. The full-length studio recording is sequenced like an old-timey radio program straight out of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, complete with commercials breaks plugging a bunch of fake products we made up. The album is available in the uber-modern digital and CD forms, but we prefer the limited-edition 10-inch vinyl that resembles a 1920s 78 (but sounds much better).
5. Hillfolk has traversed the country north to south and east to west spreading the Junkerdash gospel. Whose musical paths have you crossed?
We’ve played with Built to Spill, James McMurtry, Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Deer Tick, Gourds, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gerald Collier, Heroes and Villains, Train, Jesse Dayton, The Dusty 45s, Neva Dinova and tons of other great acts that you may or may not have heard of. We’ve also performed on countless American street corners because we hold the busking tradition in high regard and, well, sometimes we need the gas money.
