Like Weapons Of Mass Destruction, the story is a good one even if it’s not true: a half dozen or so good ol’ boys from the valley of Deer Lick Holler in America’s deep, deep south stumble upon a crash scene at the notorious Devil’s Elbow. Inside the stranger’s car they find a box of old vinyl records by a band called AC/DC. And it makes damn fine country music – a little different – but fine all the same. They leave the stranger, but loot his belongings and with a ‘hoot’ and a ‘holler’ and a twang of a ukulele the ‘Rockgrass’ gospel is born.
Like I say, it’s an unlikely story but it’s a good one. And what better lead in for the most unlikely successes of the musical year – something that on paper, at least, sounds shite, no really shite, but which on closer inspection proves as fresh a mountain breeze, as sturdy as an Appalachian log-cabin and as entertaining as a bunch of amusing movie outtakes. Yes it again personifies the American deep south as a settlement of freaks and outlaws but it’s such a freakish and wanton delight that it would be churlish to resent it when the intent is so disarmingly simple; take 15 or so rock classics like Queen’s ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, AC/DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, J. Geil’s ‘Centrefold’, ‘Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’, Motorhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades’ and The Darkness’s ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ and approach them as if they were bluegrass standards. And there you have it. The overblown guitar solos have been replaced with the frisky yowl of a fiddle and the drums with a dissolute banjo pattern – all deliriously underscored by some solid acoustic guitar.
It’s a bit of a truism to say that a good song will sound good no matter which you play it (and Louise’s ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ proves it can also be wide of the mark) but in the right hands it’s surprising how true it can be.