WHO THOUGHT hard rock, stadium rock, and blues-rock could be so effectively and thrillingly adapted and reimagined into the essence of traditional American folk music - bluegrass - but it has, brilliantly, for many years, by Hayseed Dixie.
Hayseed Dixie - John ‘Barley Scotch’ Wheeler (vocals/guitar/fiddle ), Hippy Joe Hymas (mandolin ), Johnny Butten (banjo ) - play the Róisín Dubh on Friday October 30 at 8pm. They take songs by AC/DC, Queen, Kiss, Motörhead, Def Leppard, even Franz Ferdinand, and re-do them as pure, down home, high hollerin’ bluegrass. As The Times said, they are, "superlative musicians with a deep love and understanding of the dynamics of both modern rock and ancient hillbilly music".
Wheeler explained why when I interviewed him previously: “There are four things that make any decent folk song - drinkin’, shootin’, cheatin’, and killin’. There’s a long tradition in folk/Celtic music murder ballads and looking at the darker side of life. Playing bluegrass and AC/DC, the songs were about the same things. It’s that same ‘Yeah I’m a blue-collar no good but I have a right to raise hell Bon Scott style on a Friday night.’ It never seemed weird to us play rock’n’roll and bluegrass."
Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
