Hello Love! Black Eyed Susies’ Potent Cocktail of New Grass Old Time Crunk Americana
Relative newcomers to the local music scene, The Black Eyed Susies are easily the best thing to happen to Tompkins County’s rich old-time music community in the last year. Early signs suggest that the trio—consisting of partners Leah Houghtaling and Amelia Sauter, as well as guitar player and haunting vocalist Jiamie Pyles—may be the finest group in the idiom since the emergence of Old Crow Medicine Show in the region during the late ‘90s old-time revival. Since their first gig in February of last year, The Black Eyed Susies have grown in leaps and bounds, leapfrogging over both fresh-faced talent and old-time veterans. After just about a year of playing together, the trio has a brilliant (and self-released) debut record called “Jugs of Gin.” It showcases the band’s strengths: innovative and captivating arrangements of traditional songs, impressive originals, a healthy dose of humor, and the best harmonizing south of Canadian Americana exemplars Po’ Girl. Catch them at their CD release party this Sunday, May 11, at Felicia’s Atomic Lounge before they really take off.
Though it’s clear that The Susies take their cues from both local greats (June Drucker and Tara Nevins’ the Heartbeats come to mind, as does the Highwoods String Band, the region’s most important nontraditional old-time revivalist band) and national innovators (apart from Trish Klein’s other project, The Be Good Tanyas, one could easily include artists as dissimilar as Cat Power and Gillian Welch), what is most impressive about the group is the low-key manner in which they have mastered the idiom as they have transformed it.
If you care about old-time music, you’ve likely seen The Black Eyed Susies play live; they’ve given Ithaca enough opportunities, having played at “no depression” haunts Maxie’s Supper Club and Felicia’s as well as Korova, The Chapter House, ABC Café and Simply Red Bistro. I first became aware of the group about a year ago when I caught Sauter sitting in on upright bass with Richie Stearns and Friends at Felicia’s Alley (which had already become a hotspot for Friday night old-time music). Sauter, who couldn’t have been playing for more than a few months, easily kept up alongside local celebrities Stearns, Patty Burke, Lydia Garrison and Emma Morris. She did so all while bussing tables and delivering Yuenglings (she and Houghtaling co-own the Lounge). Since then, I have witnessed the Susies play at a variety of venues. Each time, I have found myself grinning from ear to ear.
The Black Eyed Susies’ brilliance is evident both in their radical re-interpretation of traditional songs as well as original tracks that are pitch perfect. In stark contrast to the run-of-the-mill old-time revivalist outfits, The Black Eyed Susies are liberated by performing standards, rather than appearing stifled by or shackled to the form. When the three pick up a famous song—like Tom Jarrell’s tragicomic ballad of romantic exploitation, “Let Me Fall”, they take it to the logical extreme. At one point they harmonize the lines ever so sweetly: “I get drunk, I get drunk, I get drunk little girl take me home.” Suddenly, they are incorporating hip hop lines from Three 6 Mafia’s hit track off of “Hustle & Flow”: “Oh it’s hard out there for a pimp / when you’re trying to get the money for the rent / and all your bitches jumping ship.”
The Susies don’t only unearth the crunk in the clawhammer; the trio expands the old-time idiom far beyond so-called “new” grass. Sauter, Houghtaling and Pyles piece together a patchwork quilt of contemporary Americana. Their playfulness is evident almost everywhere on “Jugs of Gin,” essentially recorded live by Chad Crumm at his Music Tank Studio. Playful interpretations of standards, which include “Four Cent Cotton,” and the Jerry Garcia-appropriated “Red Rocking Chair,” sit happily alongside thoughtful originals. The radically re-contextualized “Black Eyed Susie”—from which the trio derived its name, is haunting in its intensity. Rife with folk references, it is a masterful post modern reworking on the order of Evil City String Band’s rendition of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” or Built To Spill’s “You Were Right.”
The Black Eyed Susies prefer “songs” (music with lyrics) over “tunes” (those that don’t); the Houghtaling-composed “Eesah Running in the Yard” is the sole instrumental on “Jugs of Gin,” and though live the Susies have a few more in their repertoire, they are, in the words of Pyles, “focused on our voices and loving the harmonies we do.” Houghtaling added, “our voices are our most favorite tool in the tool box.” It should be evidence of the strength of “Jugs of Gin” that my only complaint is that the album could stand to have a few more instrumental tracks: “Eesah” offers a breath of fresh air, echoing John Fahey’s subtly dark musical palette.
Standout tracks on “Jugs of Gin” also include Pyles’ “I’m Alone” and “Ocean Roll,” which are indebted to Gillian Welch and Cat Power’s Chan Marshall while existing far outside of copyright infringement territory. They are lovingly rendered—and one could imagine an entire album of Pyles-penned tracks. Sauter’s wacky “Tiki Hey” is a fitting close to the album: simultaneously cheeky and mysterious (the song manages to somehow include bass slapping and a “Girls Gone Wild” reference).
“Jugs of Gin” is an album that manages to be both wildly eclectic and strikingly consistent. It stands as a perfect testament to the originality of the band and the ease with which they play together. Even more pleasurable than the sum of its three-part harmony, The Black Eyed Susies have not only recorded and released the most captivating Americana local release this year—they have done it with a wink and a smile.