DESCRIPTION: BALCONYTV.COM 12/05/2008
PRESENTED BY PAULINE FREEMAN
You might expect to encounter a freewheeling bluegrass ensemble such as the Blood Red Mountain Band in the misty backwoods of Appalachia. But in rainy old Dublin in the depths of winter? To their credit the all-Irish outfit side-step the dreary clichés that are too often prevalent whenever a bunch of outsiders set out to investigate American roots music. Yes, their sound is a yammering gumbo of fiddles, mouth organs, mandolins and accordions. Yet there's more to this crew than dueling banjos and hillbilly yodels. In fact, the Blood Red Mountain Band nurse notably experimental ambitions. Frontman Mark Flynn writes his own material and plays a mean blues guitar; dreamy keyboardist Daniel Shanahan, meanwhile, would seem to harbor notions of one day joining Sufjan Stevens's backing band. Combine all these disparate elements and what you get is an enticing home-brew of traditional music and left-field rock. Dismiss them as an Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Tribute act at your peril. Eamon Miller
