MUSIC: High Hearts @ Tritone, 11/6

The gentlemen of High Hearts play a remarkably authentic style of old-fashioned, bluegrass folk. Complete with acoustic guitar, vocal harmonies, fiddle, mandolin and bass, this ain't your backyard hootenanny solo-trading throwdown music.

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MUSIC: High Hearts @ Tritone, 11/6

POSTED: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 12:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Philly Bands

The gentlemen of High Hearts play a remarkably authentic style of old-fashioned, bluegrass folk. Complete with acoustic guitar, vocal harmonies, fiddle, mandolin and bass, this ain't your backyard hootenanny, solo-trading throwdown music. This is straight-up, storytime around the campfire folk. Their CD, Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist is eight tracks with names like "Gypsy Girl," "No Moon" and "Boneyard Train," which all sound exactly like you'd think they'd sound. And that ain't a bad thing, especially if you're into woodsy, occasionally gypsy-esque singer-songwriting with two- and three-way harmonies.

Standout track "Gypsy Girl" is an intimidating plea to a young lady who will soon be old and gray. "Crickets" is a short, up-tempo ditty with rustic lines like "With a pair of blues and worn-out shoes/You lost your poker face" and "We don't have to talk, the crickets are just fine." "Boneyard Train" — as you can imagine — is about a one-way ticket, no turning back. If there's a recurring theme on the album, it's that life is short, so make sure to drink whiskey and enjoy taking risks while you have the chance. This is probably not a terrible mantra to live by, considering the Yellowstone caldera, global warming and pending collapse of the dollar and euro. So what better way to distract yourself from the pre-apocalypse than taking in a folksy music show at the Tritone this Sunday night.

Sun., Nov. 6, 8 p.m., free, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475, tritonebar.com.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net) (@slackerDIYtoday)

Posted by Ryan Carey @ 12:00 PM Permalink | 1 comment

Comments (1)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:26 PM, 11/02/2011

Very nice review, but I don't necessarily agree with the categorizing of this uniquely gifted band. True, their instruments would suggest a folky/bluegrass-y type music, but they have taken it so much farther. I used to enjoy (and sing) folk and bluegrass, but these guys are so much more sophisticated than that! Incredibly tight and moving harmonies, great rhythms and tunes - give them a listen. They captured my heart the first time I heard them!

— Suzan Bartels

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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