This Friday the murdergrass outfit out of San Francisco, The Pine Box Boys, will make their triumphant return to the stage at Dave’s Aqua Lounge. The last time these guys came through town I partied a little too hard with my good buddies Beam and Ginger and was unable to write a decent review of the show…which is a good sign I had one hell of a good time, and I did.  The interplay of the band members as well as their faux-arguments even makes the between song innerband banter a complete riot.

You’re asking, what does the band sound like? You’re wondering, what exactly is murdergrass? Well let’s say you take Old Crow Medicine Show and Those Poor Bastards and you put them in a blender. Now, if you  were to puree them what you would get would be one hell of a mess, but if that mess could somehow make music…that amalgam of Old Crow and TPB would be The Pine Box Boys. If Old Crow are Dr. Jekyll, then The Pine Box Boys are their Mr. Hyde.

So, come join me at Dave’s Friday night and listen to Mr. Lester T. Raww confess to more murders than the Green River Killer. Try not to think too ill of them, though, as they said a few years back, ““We never wanted any of them ladies to get killed. But they kept on bleeding and Willie kept on stabbing, so, well, I reckon we HAD to write a song about it.”

Flawless logic if you ask me.

The Pine Box Boys – I Had To Cut Her
The Pine Box Boys – Just A Crush
The Pine Box Boys – Hair Of Gold
The Pine Box Boys – The Pallbearers

The Pine Box Boys Official Site, The Pine Box Boys on myspace, Buy The Pine Box Boys’ music

9B editor and guest contributor Marci also wants to make sure you all know about Dr. Dog coming to the Crowbar this Thursday night.  When she saw them at Lollapalooza last year, this is what she had to say about their show, “These guys are 100% pros and fit all the energy and music they could into the hour allotted to them on the little MySpace stage.  Much of the crowd knew the lyrics to every song, and as the five guys gave their all, for a little while it felt as if we’d been transported from this sunny public park to a little local gin joint.  If you get a chance to see these guys, do it, you won’t be disappointed.”  She tells me that this time they’ll be playing a place that should far better enhance their raw, blues-filled harmonies and they should not be missed.

Dr Dog – Army of Ancients
Dr Dog – The Beach

Dr Dog’s Official Site , Dr Dog on myspace

In preparation for my friends 30th birthday this weekend (we’re renting Wrestlemania @ our local bar) I was cleaning off the camera. I realized I’ve taken a lot of pictures from shows but never managed to post ‘em. So here they are.

Pine Box Boys from Dave’s Aqua Lounge

Nervous Turkey from Skippers Smokehouse

Mofro from Skippers Smokehouse

Lucero from The State Theater

Lucero – Old Sad Songs (seemed topical…one of the best 1 minute songs ever)

So, I am sitting in my local bar the other night having a descent conversation with my good buddies Beam and Ginger when a new email comes through in the cell phone. I open up the email to read:

PINE BOX BOYS, BLIND BUDDY MOODY AND
SOME DANCING SKELETON JANUARY 25th AT
DAVES AQUA LOUNGE

At first I thought I was just drunk so I read it again; slowly…Pine. Box. Boys. Can’t be the same guys…scroll down…yup that’s them. OH SHIT! The Pine Box Boys are playing Dave’s! At which point I did the happy dance. Last year when I wrote about the band I described them like this:

They classify themselves Southern Horrorbilly and/or Darkgrass. I have no idea what either of those terms mean. Personally, I would describe their sound as a darker version of Old Crow Medicine Show�. a much much darker version. Like, OCMS meets Those Poor Bastards. These are dark blue grassy songs for the dark humored. Call em� love songs for the recently deceased.

Come see it for yourself on Friday night @ Dave’s Aqua Lounge. Showtime is 9:30 and the cover is seven dollars.

Pine Box Boys – Just a Crush
Pine Box Boys – Arkansas Killing Time
Pine Box Boys – I Had To Cut Her

EDIT: I just got this message from Dobbs (Pine Box Boys drummer):

it is going to be nuts because i am from there and family and friends will decend upon there with a vengence.

This show has officially gotten 150% better!

Is there no pity for the lonely ladies of the American Murder Ballad? Buried in unmarked graves, their ghosts have been called out to in song for more than two centuries. No face, no form, only lonely names – Polly, Sally, Maggie, Eleanor.

They classify themselves Southern Horrorbilly and/or Darkgrass. I have no idea what either of those terms mean. Personally, I would describe their sound as a darker version of Old Crow Medicine Show…. a much much darker version. Like, OCMS meets Those Poor Bastards. These are dark blue grassy songs for the dark humored. Call em’ love songs for the recently deceased.

I hope 2007 sees another Pine Box Boys released but I imagine there is a hill somewhere in Arkansas that may be running out of graves.

Pine Box Boys – Just a Crush (the wifes review of this track: “That song is just creepy.”)
Pine Box Boys – Arkansas Killing Time
Pine Box Boys – I Had To Cut Her

Pine Box Boys Official Site, Pine Box Boys on myspace, Buy Pine Box Boys’ CD’s