The Hackensaw Boys

Traversing the country in a lumbering 1964 GMC tour bus -- lovingly nicknamed Dirty Bird -- the Hackensaw Boys know a thing or two about the open road. The ensemble, which seems to vary in numbers between six and twelve, has been crisscrossing the highways and truck stops of America...

By Tuyet Nguyen

April 6, 2006

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Traversing the country in a lumbering 1964 GMC tour bus -- lovingly nicknamed Dirty Bird -- the Hackensaw Boys know a thing or two about the open road. The ensemble, which seems to vary in numbers between six and twelve, has been crisscrossing the highways and truck stops of America since the late '90s, putting down their bluegrass roots in any city and stage that'll take them in. Mostly based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Boys update traditional folk with a modest rock zeal that's like a moonshine-induced hoedown at Uncle Tupelo's house. The latest effort, 2005's Love What You Do, is a simple homage to Southern roots rock and dirty country blues that sweats out the banjo and slobbers up the harmonica. And with a roster of members' pseudonyms that reads like a Saturday Night Live skit --Pee Paw, Shiner, the Kooky-Eyed Fox, Dante J., Salvage and Mahlon -- the group has no qualms about injecting new life (and humor) into old traditions.

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