Album Review – Urban Pioneers in “Hillbilly Swing Music”
Banjo Player Jared McGovern, fiddler Liz Sloan, and upright bassist Martin Sargent make up the fun-loving, lighthearted, yet hard-charging string band trio the Urban Pioneers out of north Texas. First meeting as bandmates for the backing band of Bob Wayne, and later becoming a big part of Jayke Orvis’s Broken Band, Jared McGovern and Liz Sloan are underground roots music survivors and dedicated lifers if there ever were any, resigned happily to the road life in smelly vans and sleeping on couches with a smile and simple goals, and entertaining fans with a by-gone sense of earnest showmanship delivering an arm full of witty original songs.
Their new album Hillbilly Swing Music is true to the title, filled with fun ditties and infectious reels that reawaken the simple joy of primitive American string music in a way that is invigorating and fun, yet still enriching with intelligent turns and deceptively-smart songwriting. By leaving some of the pretentiousness and the genteel perfectitudes of much of modern string music behind, the Urban Pioneers are able to set themselves apart from the stuffy reenactments of the profession to make something that feels more authentic to the true traditions of back porch hillbilly bands.
The Urban Pioneers are something much more akin to the Foghorn Stringband or Old Crow Medicine Show as opposed to the precise modes of straightforward bluegrass, or the morose moods of dark Appalachian old time. This is music to get up and move around to as the album title implies. They create music that many people can enjoy, regardless of age. Play the Urban Pioneers for your grandparents and you’re liable to get a rise out of them. Small kids will prance around almost uncontrollably to the music, succumbing to the timeless appeal of authentic roots rhythms. Yet go to an Urban Pioneers show, and most of who you might see are punk rock coverts who are drawn to the Urban Pioneers approach from the attitude underpinning the music, the DIY spirit, and the adept technique at breakneck speed the trio is able to accomplish.
Their fourth overall record, Hillbilly Swing Music really is a step up in quality across the board from the trio, from the songwriting, to the production, to simply the audio grade of the recordings. It’s probably worthy of naming as their best record yet. The songwriting is more finely tuned, and they took the time to bring in steel guitar, a few horns on a few songs, some piano, and to utilize twin fiddle harmonies here and there to create diverse textures for these 13 songs to thrive in.
When you can play as fast as they can, it can get easy to fall back on sheer speed to entertain crowds. But songs like “Fast Money,” or even a simple one like “Kitty’s Favorite Day” show an understanding of how to use observation and insight in songwriting in a way that is accessible, and can turn even mundane subjects into entertaining poetry.
Jared McGovern and Liz Sloan don’t have conventionally perfect singing voices because they’re pickers first, and if you understand what the Urban Pioneers are all about, that isn’t what holds them back, it’s what makes them endearing. In the old times when country was a primitive art form, and opportunities to play were earned through hard work and the only resort for entertainment in rural regions. It wasn’t about being perfect, it was about having a good time, and finding fellowship through the shared joy of music. Though many other bands and artists get the musical modes right, the attitude is often too dark, and spoils the joy old time and primitive country can have.
A former classically trained violinist and an enlisted man in the Navy take time from trapping feral hogs on their property in North Texas to play a few songs for you to help spin the troubles away. This is what old time primitive country is all about.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7.5/10)
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January 6, 2018 @ 12:08 pm
Not bad. I prefer The Tillers, pretentious and genteel though they may be.
January 6, 2018 @ 12:20 pm
They are a ton of fun to see live I know that. I agree with your thoughts about them and their music.
January 6, 2018 @ 12:24 pm
Yes!! Saw them at Westport Roots Festival last year and they were fucking badass! Knew nothing about them going in, but walked away a fan for sure. Just like a festival’s supposed to do.
They absolutely killed that shit, energy on par with a Turnpike Troubadours show, or even-dare I say?-close to an Old 97’s show. Not the energy from the crowd, but def energy from the band. They held nothing back and I loved every second of it! Given the opportunity, my wife would’ve left me for the fiddler-I know because she flat told me she would.
January 6, 2018 @ 12:25 pm
Yeehaw
January 6, 2018 @ 1:36 pm
Damn, this is my kind of music.
January 6, 2018 @ 1:40 pm
Love this song. Going to Amazon to buy it and listen to the rest – thanks for the review
January 6, 2018 @ 4:24 pm
There are literally hundreds of bands like this in every corner of this country that have to struggle to keep going. Go to the smaller venues as often as your budget allows and buy what you can from them at their shows. Folks in these bands are usually very approachable and almost universally down to earth good people.
January 6, 2018 @ 5:18 pm
They are indeed very approachable and friendly people. I met Liz and Jared when our band did a show with Jayke’s Broken Band. They were like old friends and at ease both on and off stage. Of course great musicians too.
January 6, 2018 @ 6:48 pm
”It wasn’t about being perfect, it was about having a good time, and finding fellowship through the shared joy of music. Though many other bands and artists get the musical modes right, the attitude is often too dark, and spoils the joy old time and primitive country can have.”
This is such an astute observation , Trigger , and worthy of savoring . There is , indeed ,a place for ‘darker’ stuff ( sarah jarosz, eric church , much alt-grass …hell …look at some of the louvins’ stuff from the 40’s-50’s ) but yeah …family shows , honky tonks , dance halls and celebrations are NOT the place for it ,generally speaking
January 7, 2018 @ 10:18 am
Thank you for your comment, albert. I’d like to pour you a glass of wine. It’s time.
January 6, 2018 @ 10:49 pm
I really enjoyed that. I like the tempo.
Definitely a maybe on the purchase stakes.
Thanks Trigger, you gave me the Turnpike Troubadours, for which I’ll be forever grateful, but its also some of the smaller artists that are the hidden gems. These guys, HoneyHoney, Moot Davis – all awesome in their own right.
January 7, 2018 @ 10:22 am
I purchased through the Amazon link (like I did vehicle in transit when you reviewed it a few years ago).
Although I like their music and seeing them in concert is a must, the music on album format is a little too clean, perfect – like most progressive sectors of this genre (I think they are more Nickle Creek than OCMS). It’s like these guys are classicly trained and don’t miss a beat.
January 7, 2018 @ 1:57 pm
Thanks so much for the review. Love finding new bands & think this type of music + bluegrass is due for a renaissance.