"The music is not far from its Iowa roots, it contains elements of bluegrass, ragtime, and gospel. With a propensity for darkness, superstition and old time religion, The Old Scratch Revival Singers provide themes of damnation in this world, and salvation in the next."
- from their Bandcamp page
"When you first see them on stage, the main thing that stands out is the size of the band. They fill the stage, each musician trying to stay out of the other’s way. The second thing you noticed is the abundance of acoustic instruments. This is not your regular rock and roll band. You see a fiddle, a banjo, a mandolin, an accordion, a ukulele, an upright bass, and various brass instruments.
Then the music starts. It’s definitely folk. Old-timey folk music at that. Bluegrass as well. And you can hear the gospel influence as well. But this is the old-timey folk music you’d hear coming out of an empty haunted house in a deep, dark, scary forest. What Alice Cooper did to hard rock, and Marilyn Manson to modern rock, these guys do to old-timey music. And the person who is singing the most, makes it sound like it’s coming out of the bottom of his tortured soul. The others back him up with eerie harmonies.
And their songs tell stories, sad stories, creepy stories. Stories of men who have lost their way and know what’s coming. Others who have just been dealt misfortune, and are fighting through it. Or have accepted their fate.
Although this band has been together for over 10 years, they sadly only have one album, Oh, Didn’t He Ramble from 2005. But the album, and this unique band, is unlike many others, folk or rock, that you will hear in Iowa, or elsewhere. Unfortunately, you can’t hear them live often these days, as members are busy with other projects. So if you want something different and interesting that will touch you deep in your gut, go see this Iowa legend while you have a chance."
- from an article by Dan Wren on the Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) website
Lineup:
eerie whittaker - guitar, vocal
noah doely - clarinet, flute, trombone, vocal
nicholas beard - drums, percussion, vocal
rebecca frankenstein - accordion, ukelele, organ, vocal
samuel anderson - violin, viola, vocal
brooks strause - banjo, mandolin, cornet, vocal
matthew nevins - upright bass, vocal
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Old-Scratch-Revival-Singers-1955619774576754/
BandCamp:
https://oldscratchrevivalsingers.bandcamp.com/
To download the podcast, right click on the link below and hit "Save as...":
https://archive.org/download/IowaMusicShowcaseEpisode52/Iowa%20Music%20Showcase%20-%20Episode%2052_.mp3
Labels: 2000s, 2004, Brooks Strause, Door (song), Ep 052, Erik Whittaker, folk music, Halloween, Halloween 2017, Iowa City, Iowa City area, Noah Doely, Old Scratch Revival Singers (band), Rebecca Frankenstein
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