Pitchfork: Hackensaw Boys to Hit the Road

The Hackensaw Boys, residents of Charlottesville, Va., are one of this young century's leaders in ramshackle, geetar-pickin', whiskey-bottle-slingin' "newgrass." The eight-piece-- four of whom play banjo-- have garnered critical praise over the years, most recently for their 2003 LP Keep it Simple, and have become favorites of Modest Mouse and Cake frontman John McCrea. Why all the love? Quite simple, really. The dudes stick to their traditional southern guns; they're enthusiastic in a completely non-ironic fashion, and they put on a dynamite live show. Furthermore, they play with a washboard, one of the only instruments in the history of music not to receive a modern re-envisioning. It's not just for washing, you know.

The reason we mention all this is that the group just released a twangin' new album: Love What You Do, which hit stores (and probably a few truck-stops) on August 30 via Nettwerk Records. The full tracklisting looks like this:

01 Sun's Work Undone
02 Cannonball
03 Kiss You Down There
04 Alabama Shamrock
05 We Are Many
06 Bordertown
07 High Faller
08 Mecklenburg County
09 Buildings Are the Cages
10 Parking Lot Song
11 Fiddle My Blues Away
12 All Good Dogs

The Hackensaw Boys have also taken their country bear jambaroo on the road for a sizable fall tour, appropriately hitting up locations like Smith's Old Bar and the Town Pump. C'mon, you tellin' me these guys don't have more fun than Interpol?

09-14 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
09-15 Rochester, NY - Milestones
09-16 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
09-17 Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
09-19 Lansing, MI - The Temple Club
09-20 Bloomington, IN - Bluebird
09-21 Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio
09-22 Rock Island, IL - Rocket Cinema
09-23 Chicago, IL - Martyr's
09-24 Minneapolis, MN - Cabooze
09-29 Eugene, OR - EMU Amphitheater
10-01 Eugene, OR - Eugene Celebration
10-02 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord
10-09 Winchester, VA - Oktoberfest
10-15 Salem, VA - Salem Ballpark
10-22 Rochester, NY - Rochester Theatre
10-27 Atlanta, GA - Smith's Old Bar
10-28 Black Mountain, NC - Town Pump

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? Click here to let us know!. You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)