Hoedown On The Dance Floor.

Not many Aussie bands adorn their stage-set with authentic haystacks, and not many Aussie bands rock out without a drummer or a bassist either. The Wilson Pickers however, are not your average Australian band. These five seasoned musicians have blended the muddy bluegrass sounds of the US’s south-west, with their own collaborative talent, to create a genuine and compelling article.

The roguish brigade, have been recently shaking down venues all over the country with their thigh-slapping, harmonious hoedowns. For Brisbane based musician Andrew Morris, deciding to create a band steeped in such dramatic American roots came from a particularly authentic experience.

"I went to a place called the Station Inn, when I was in Nashville." Morris says. "On stage was just a bunch of older fellas with a few microphones playing this incredible bluegrass music. It just had such intense energy, purely from stringed instruments and without having to be incredibly loud or aggressive it created a really cool vibe."

Morris immediately set himself to the task of finding a fiddle player, banjo player, slide guitarist and a harmonica veteran to join him in his new endeavor. Luckily, his many years traipsing through Australia’s live-music scene had allowed him to make some pretty talented allies. Four good mates, including Danny Widdicombe were more than happy to climb aboard the rambling bluegrass bandwagon.

"I emailed all the guys and they replied straight away with a yes," he explains. "Some of them had never even met each other! It was quite a good thing that it worked as well as it did as it could have completely imploded. It is great to see people now responding to what I think is quite a genuine article."

‘Genuine’, is certainly a pertinent way to describe the sound of the Pickers’ latest album Shake It Down, which dips and weaves through country, bluegrass and folk. The album is their first true collaborative project and the endearing harmonies, blinding banjo and dueling guitars allow it to flex easily among folksy counterparts such as Mumford and Sons.

"I think our second release is bit more considered, not in a bad way though," Morris explains. "You can fall into the trap of thinking about an album too much, and I think on Shake It Down we thought about it a little bit more without overdoing it. The first release was a bit slap-dash. I mean you can create some great music like that, but the songs were mostly a selection from our own individual selves."

"With this record we all wrote a little bit more conscientiously for the record and we did a lot more co-writing as well, we credited each of the songs on this record to all of us, so it has got a bit more of a band feel to it I think."

Despite extensive planning, the group decided to adopt a no-frills policy in the recording of the album. In the retro-furnished living room of Troubadour owner Jamie Trevaskas The Wilson Pickers reverted back to the recording methods of the bluegrass greats of the past. "The record has a very organic feel to it, it is basically us sitting around in Jamie’s lounge room in Brisbane, with ribbon mics and tape, so it has definitely got that rustic charm," says Morris. "Jamie’s lounge room looks just like the Troubadour with red velvet couches and stuff. That is just the way he does things and I think it lent itself well to our music, having all the old stuff all around us"

In recent years there has been influx of folk-inspired chart-toppers such as Laura Marling, Boy and Bear and Mumford and Sons. As artists who have been ‘around the traps’ themselves, The Wilson Pickers, have not needed to typecast themselves or be part of this nu-folk scene.

"We’re not concerned at all about trends and fashion, this band was put together by five friends wanting to play some music," explains Morris. "The fact that it has got that folk instrumentation was inspired by the really great bluegrass stuff I heard in Nashville. I really liked the energy and the sound of it, I thought that it would be a great thing to do in Brisbane."

In spite of five-part harmonies, a distinct Southern sound and a reliance on stringed instrumentation, Morris refuses to describe his band as bluegrass purists. "We are very reluctant to call ourselves a bluegrass band, I think folk is a better word for us," he admits. "We are basically just five songwriters who get together, and we don’t really have to carry around guitar amps and drum kits and stuff. It’s like kitchen music, stuff you make around the dinner table at 2am, it’s that sort of vibe."

This slap-dash, hand-clapping spirit translates itself exceptionally well to the live environment. Five musicians ripping beautiful vocal harmonies, brandishing violins, banjos and harps are inspiring people of all ages to jump off their hay-bails and hoedown on the dance floor.

"I think it’s got a real general appeal, we get a really good cross section of people at our shows," says Morris "That’s the beauty of it I think, we never want to be striped shirt wearing cool dudes in the city and people of all ages love it. Playing music I don’t think should be an exclusive thing I think it should be available to anyone."

Shake It Down is available now through ABC/Universal.

By Nolan Giles

ENDS