Joe Roberto and Poverty Hash: Connecticut's Swampy Backyard Blues Band
This is the story of a Danbury band, but it begins in the town of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Joe and the Hash at the Georgetown Saloon - Photo by Kristin Johnson It's the fall of 2004. After 15 years on the Midwestern music circuit, Jason Murray is setting out on a different track, his truck packed with instruments, clothes and his cat, Leda. He is about to head east to get in on the New York music scene- a friend has begged him to come, offering him a free place to live if he would just get out there and play.
So he did. Murray spent the next few years living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, working in Brookfield and playing his bass all around New York. In 2006, he found his musical mate in Danbury native Tim Brennan. When accompanying Brennan's guitar, Murray detected a strong musical sensibility, but it wasn't until Murray heard Brennan on the drums that he understood the extent of it. With Murray on bass and Brennan on the drums, the two embodied a rhythm section with an uncanny understanding.
Enter Joe Roberto, a big, barrelchested, growling multi-instrumentalist from Sandy Hook, with over one hundred original recorded songs. His band, The Silver Spiders, had just broken up, and he was playing solo for the first time in his 20-plus year musical career. Roberto met Murray and Brennan, and once they played together, they became an instant music trio.
Roberto was introduced to Jon Chapman, a well-known local young guitar player, at Cousin Larry's in Danbury one night, and ended up playing guitar with him out back. Yet another perfect fit. Soon after, the four found themselves at Larry's again. Chapman was playing solo on stage, and Roberto, Murray and Brennan got up to join him."It was magical," recalls Murray. "There was an automatic connection. We played a 45-minute set and it was as though we had practiced 1,000 times. We never looked at each other once. It was very powerful."
So became Joe Roberto and Poverty Hash, a talented quartet stomping and crooning around the genre of "carnival blues."
"Carnival blues;" Roberto explained, "it could be cotton candy, it could be House of Horrors." Rockabilly, gypsy, vaudeville, southern rock, funk and Americana could also illustrate the Hash's sound, but more than mere descriptions, the group is defined by their transcendence of genres, their impeccable collective and individual musicianship and their kinetic backyard yet big-stage live performances. Roberto moves from guitar to the keys to harmonica to lap steel, threading each instrument with hypnotic, sonorous vocals. Chapman's riffs channel something of a spine-tingling 50s avant-garde sound, and the thrash and groove that is Brennan's drums and Murray's bass - well that's something you just have to feel for yourself.
Roberto has been playing the harmonica for over 20 years and writing songs for just as long.
He is the sole lyricist for Poverty Hash, but in terms of arrangements, the songs are open. "I Want Your Mind", a creeping, rollicking number from their freshly recorded EP, Whatsallthebuzzabout, was written six years ago, but it wasn't until Murray and Brennan dropped in an Eastern European shuffle and Chapman tore through the middle with a surfy solo that the song was fully realized. The song also features haunting vocals from local musician Sarianna Sabbarese, and the group just wrapped a weekend of filming for the "I Want Your Mind" video. Though the band members range in age (26 to 43) and musical background, the synergy of the group is clear. All are ravenous musicians involved in a variety of different projects, and Roberto practices a play-with-all philosophy.
"Whatever you want is what I want to give," he said. "Harmonica, slide, anything. I'll play with anybody."
Each member is at a point in their lives where music is paramount; "Have band, will travel" is their attitude. And they do travel, having just completed a summer tour throughout Minnesota. The band's label, Half Door Records, is based in Minneapolis, and all Murray had to do was call home to line up a two-week tour. The July tour saw the band well fed by Murray's mother and afforded them a last minute opportunity to play at the Twin Cities' third annual Deep Blues Festival.
"We were on our way to a sound check for another gig when we got
the call," Murray said. "If we could get there in 10 minutes, we'd get a 30 minute slot." They made it. The crowd was incredible and their tour a towering success. They're heading back in mid-November for another go and will also be playing in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Roberto states that the band could easily produce four albums a year with his wealth of material. They're planning to record their first full-length over the winter for an April release. You can see Joe and the Hash before they head west at Cousin Larry's on Halloween, at Cafe Nine in New Haven on November 5, and at The Palace Theater for a chari-ty benefit on November 8. Visit their web site at MySpace.com/PovertyHash. Check TheMercurial.com for an exclusive acoustic performance by Joe and the Hash.
