Nearly everything about Asheville-based band Skunk Ruckus is suffused with humor. But the band is very serious about its music. The inherent tension between those two realities is part of the band’s recipe for success, as is the band’s musical style: equal parts punk and mountain music, delivered in cheeky style. Skunk Ruckus celebrated the release of Pearls Before Swine<\/i> with a hometown show at Asheville, North Carolina’s Mothlight on May 11.<\/p>\n
Back in the 1960s, pioneering freak-folk group Pearls Before Swine released a series of odd yet influential albums with titles like One Nation Underground<\/i>. But Skunk Ruckus banjo player, vocalist and songwriter Jim McCarthy says that the title of the band’s second and latest album has nothing to do with that group. \u201cActually, it’s from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount,\u201d he says, quoting the scripture: \u201cDo not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowing where the story is headed, guitarist Dave Gilbert cautions, \u201cNot sure that’s too cool to say in print; know what I’m sayin?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/skunk_ruckus.jpg\")
\nMcCarthy chuckles and forges onward, undeterred. \u201cWe were playing a show and just kicking the crap out of it,\u201d he says. And no one was responding. We might as well not have been there. And then Dave leaned over and said, ‘We are giving these guys gems!’ And I said, ‘Pearls before swine!’\u201d It was all meant in good-natured fun, but the phrase stuck, and ended up as the album title.<\/p>\n
Currently a four-piece (McCarthy and Gilbert plus bassist Max Steel and Ween drummer Claude Coleman Jr.), Skunk Ruckus originally came together around the core duo of McCarthy and Steel. Gilbert describes that duo’s sound as \u201cold time ballads with electric bass.\u201d Once he joined, Gilbert bonded with Steel over a shared appreciation for Fugazi and other Washington D.C.-based hardcore bands. \u201cI figured, why not play a harmonic wall of noise over the banjo melodies?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert notes that the band’s sound has developed since then, but notes with a smile that he sees his role as \u201cthinking how to disrupt Jim’s thing as much as add to it.\u201d Seemingly at odds with McCarthy’s musical mindset (\u201cthe more we morph or cross genres the more personally I keep attaching myself to an older and more traditional sound\u201d), that push-and-pull is key to Skunk Ruckus’ overall sonic quality. \u201cThe bones are still the bass and banjo,\u201d Steel says.<\/p>\n
Pearls Before Swine<\/i> was recorded at the Eagle Room in Weaverville with Matt Williams producing. The band blocked out a solid week for the marathon recording session and mixing. At one point toward the end, it looked like they would run out of time without finishing the vocal parts. \u201cBut I said, ‘I got this,\u201d recalls McCarthy. \u201cAnd then we knocked out six tracks in one day. That about killed me.\u201d He reveals that Irish whiskey was a key to success. \u201cThe Jameson really helped with the hoarseness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The addition of Coleman on drums greatly expanded the group’s sound. Gilbert explains that when Skunk Ruckus was still a trio, McCarthy would \u201cstomp on the kick-drum as he flayed the banjo and gut-sang. It was a great sound, but we wanted to be more of a rock band.\u201d Gilbert says that Coleman’s skills as an arranger also helped sharpen the band’s musical approach. \u201cPlus,\u201d he adds, \u201che’s fun as hell to play with; he spurs on the jams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skunk Ruckus’ musical hybrid style has earned them a solid fan base, but their irreverent take on the old-time musical aesthetic rankles some purists. \u201cTraditionalists get a little antsy with us,\u201d McCarthy admits. \u201cHell \u2026 even when I am<\/i> playing old-time, they get antsy.\u201d Steel jokes that \u201cthey tend to leave quickly,\u201d then turns more serious and adds, \u201cpeople truly appreciate our blend of genres.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do our thing,\u201d explains Gilbert. \u201cAppalachian music isn\u2019t frozen in the past, buried in amber in a museum or something. Appalachian music is alive today, and it responds to the living world that we all experience. We tell our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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