Crooked Still

11.14.2006 -- Feature by: C. Eric Banister

The song is �Can�t You Hear Me Callin�� but it�s not Bill Monroe. In fact, using the standard definition, it would be hard pressed to be called Bluegrass. Nevertheless, the members of Crooked Still, vocalist Aoife O�Donovan, banjoist Gregory Lizst, cellist Rushad Eggleston and double-bassist Corey DiMario have played several Folk and Bluegrass Festivals since the release of their national debut Shaken By a Low Sound.

�I think that we�ve had extremely positive responses from all kind of facets of that [the Bluegrass] community,� DiMario tells me from his home in Connecticut, �you mentioned the Bluegrass festivals, I think that there�s a lot of purist, traditional people that can get into what we are doing because I think that what we are doing, and the way we are doing it, you can hear a lot of respect for the old tradition even though it is done in a different way, sort of a different take on it, it�s not irreverent. And we also� there�re people that�re into something new that will get into it, too. So I think we have had really positive responses at a Bluegrass festival and people are amazed about the cello and about the different way that we treat a lot of the material.�

The choice of a cello in the band was not one made by market forces or the idea that it would set them apart from their peers. DiMario explains: �Right, it�s funny, we get asked that question all of the time and it wasn�t like me and Aoife got together to start a band and said how can we make this different? Oh yeah, the cello, that�s the answer. It wasn�t preconceived in that way. We all four met while going to school in Boston and we started playing together and we liked playing together so the instrumentation was more of a byproduct of that�s just what we played, you know? So, I think that in a way if we had played different instruments we still would have wanted to play at that time. So having a cello and having a banjo using a different kind of Scruggs-style, using the fourth finger and all this different stuff, that�s just kind of happenstance or circumstance, it wasn�t preconceived in that way, it was a lot more organic than that.�

The four artist came together while they were attending music schools in the Boston area, also the starting point for artists such as Casey Driessen and Carrie Rodriguez. And while the Northeast may seem an unlikely birthplace for new string band music, DiMario describes a scene rife with interest in the music of past decades. �So we were all sort of there at the same time for school, so, maybe the school thing is a factor in that because there are a lot of great music schools in Boston. But it�s hard to say why, right now, all of a sudden there is like a big boom in roots music in say the last five or six years in Boston. And I think it extends beyond just the school thing, you know, just the fact that New England Con., Berklee and all these schools are right there, I think there is something else and it�s sort of hard to put your finger on why, but there is this amazing, young scene of people playing all kinds of traditional music, lots of Irish and Scottish music, Jazz and roots blues and Old-Time and Bluegrass, it�s all sort of happening in Boston and there�s a lot of young people that are interested in it.�

Drawing from all styles of music, Crooked Still seeks to bring in a new audience with their playing and their energy. �That�s definitely something we�re thinking about a lot in Crooked Still is how to capture that energy, but without using drums or electric guitars or electric basses, but still have that Rock and Roll energy behind it,� he says.

While they may be seeking to bring an updated sound, they stick to a more traditional repertoire for both performing and recording preferring to stick to what DiMario calls a �super common repertoire.�

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The selection of those songs is a group effort. �Well, the thing about CS is it�s always just been the four of us, I mean on our CDs we�ve had some guests, but predominately its just the four of us and when we pick songs it�s a pretty democratic process,� DiMario explains, �Someone might have an idea� I might have an idea and say I think this song would be really good for us and then if we try playing it and it seems to work, seems to fit sort of how we play and how we treat stuff and everyone likes it, we will just keep going. We all make suggestions for songs and we sort of work through them and we pick the ones we all agree on and like the best.�

Of the eleven songs on Shaken By A Low Sound, only one is a song written by a member of the group. �I think songwriting is not a part of CS in a big way. Mostly we work with traditional material or if not a traditional, then something like �Can�t you Hear Me Callin�� by Bill Monroe that is weaved into the fabric of music already. But with a song like �Mountain Jumper� that Rashad wrote, that was one that just jumped out at us and fit in with what we were going for. I can�t even remember if it was Rashad or Aofie that first suggested that we do it, but we all played it and we all liked it and it seemed to fit in and it was something different. So again, it was just something that happened, it wasn�t like we were thinking, oh no, we need to start writing more original material now. Rashad is an amazing songwriter and he writes a lot of songs for other projects that he�s in, in a lot of styles as well, but that was one that sort of fit in to what we were doing, so it made sense,� he recalls.

Regardless of the source of the song, the group puts their stamp on it and has been busy in the past few months getting the songs to crowds in Europe, Denmark and Ireland as well as their current run through the US.

Between playing worldwide and arranging songs for Crooked Still, each of the members has a side project to keep them well-rounded musically and allowing them to focus on what they wish to accomplish with Crooked Still. �I think that one of the� you know, you always read when a band breaks up that it was creative differences. I always take that to mean someone had something they really wanted to do and they couldn�t do it in that band, you know what I mean, so they decided to leave the band or whatever. But with Crooked Still, since we all do different stuff, we have outlets for other facets of our creativity. Rashad has his own band of original music and Aoife has a band with two other women singers that�s all songwriting and harmony singing. And I play a lot with a great fiddle player named Lisa Schneckenburger, so we all have other stuff that allows us to, when we come to Crooked Still, to really have it be that and sort of have its own life, you know? It doesn�t have to be the creative be all and end all for every facet of our creativity, you know? Which I think is a very positive thing, some people might not, but I think that, at least for us, for the four of us, it is a very good thing.�