THE HACKENSAW BOYS

String theory: The old-time Americana of the Hackensaw Boys lives on

By: MATT ASHARE |
Published: April 04, 2012 http://www2.the-burg.com/entertainment/2012/apr/04/string-theory-old-time-americana-hackensaw-boys-li-ar-1818234/

BACK WITH THE BOYS: David Sickman (right) returns to his Hackensaw roots

David Sickman's on the road, hauling a load of wood flooring from Illinois to New York City before he heads back to Lynchburg to gear up for a regional tour with the Hackensaw Boys, the old-time country string band he co-founded with current Modest Mouse member Tom Pelosi back in 1999. It's a tour that'll kick off this Thursday at Mangia, hit the National in Richmond the following night, Growler's in Roanoke on Sunday, and then head south for shows in Nashville, Memphis, Jackson, Birmingham, and Atlanta. But right now, Sickman's musing over an interesting coincidence. "It's funny," he remarks. "We were just out here in the Midwest three weeks ago. So I'm basically driving the same roads that I drove with the Hackensaw Boys, only I returned here as a woodsmith or a carpenter instead of a musician."

       Up until a little over a year ago, the very idea of Sickman splitting his time between banging nails and strumming guitar, much less hitting the road with his old band, would have seem far fetched at best. Sickman left the Hackensaw Boys, who formed in Charlottesville and became something of a local institution before garnering a national and international audience for their traditional, yet idiosyncratic take on folksy country music, in 2005, when the grind of the road got to be too much and he experienced what he characterizes as a nervous breakdown of sorts. "I was never diagnosed by a doctor, but I was pretty low and totally burned out," he concedes.

       "First and foremost it was just physical exhaustion," he continues. "I was away from my family, which was difficult. And I'd basically gotten to the point where I couldn't find the joy in it anymore. That, coupled with how one person's mood can affect an entire band, just pushed me to the point where I felt like I had to quit. We were in London, touring, and I just said, 'sorry guys but I have to go home tonight, after this show, even though we have four or five more booked.' They gallantly went on to perform those shows and kept it alive from that moment on, which is awesome because the Hackensaw Boys were like a gang — a gang of good guys."

       Sickman essentially retired from music to focus on family life in Lynchburg. And, with no hard feelings, the band soldiered on, adding an old friend of Sickman's, singer/guitarist Ward Harrison, to a line-up that's seen a number of players come and go over the years. But, last year, Sickman rediscovered the joys of singing, strumming, and songwriting. He returned to the fold with his own locally based group, the Bellweather States and, in the fall, reconnected with Harrison, who informed him that the last two original members of the Hackensaw Boys were calling it quits.

       "In twelve years, the band has never had a break, even though members have changed a bunch of times," Sickman explains. "And Ward really didn't want the band to stop.” Sickman offered his services, the band liked the idea, and by November he was a Hackensaw Boy again. Just a few days after Thanksgiving, he was on stage with the band at the Jefferson in Charlottesville.

       Since then, Sickman has put the Bellweather States on hold — "suspended animation," is how he describes it — and thrown himself back into the Hackensaw Boys lifestyle, a kind of traveling hootenanny facilitated by an inspired band of outsiders who’ll be heading to Europe for a string of shows in May. In a sense, that’ll bring Sickman full circle, back within spitting distance of the 2005 breakdown that sent him packing. And, back to pedaling the stylized but never quite shticky homegrown Americana stylings, replete with fiddle, upright bass, and a drummer who plays an ingenious, handcrafted rhythm contraption known as the "charismo," that made the original Hackensaw Boys legendary enough to earn a spot on a big tour with the Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, and Cake, as well as a three-week gig backing country-gospel great Charlie Louvin.

       "We played the Grand Ol' Opry, country music's most hallowed ground," Sickman recalls with pride. "And I got to play at Red Rocks with the Flaming Lips. Our attitude is that we can play with anybody, any time, at any place. We can step out of a vehicle and start playing music; we've actually done that."

       In the years since Sickman took his leave, the Hackensaw Boys have continued recording new material, releasing the full-length Look Out! in 2007, and, more recently, two six-song EPs titled The Old Sound of Music, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. And the band, who at one point grew to include a full complement of eight musicians, has been pared back to five — Sickman and Harrison (guitar/vocals), Ferd Moyse (fiddle), Ben Jacobs (bass), and Brian Gorby (charismo). But, for all the changes the band have been through, Sickman's happy to report that most, if not all of what's made the Hackensaw Boys a uniquely compelling enterprise since their inception, has remained much the same.

       "The band that is the Hackensaw Boys right now is definitely carrying on in the original spirit. I know that I am. And I was there at the beginning. It's never lost the spirit of wanting to provide people with a fun night of dancing, maybe with some ballads thrown in. It's all about, you know, coming out, having a good time, and not worrying about having to go to work tomorrow — just hang out with us for the night. A lot of bands aren't really accessible to their fans. I don't even like to call people who like the Hackensaw Boys fans. They're friends. They're people. Most Hackensaw Boys shows, no matter how big or little, end with us going out on the floor and playing for the last 15 or 20 minutes. We do that every night. So the intentions of the original band, just doing our own take on the music of Doc Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, and, of course, outlaw country guys like Waylon and Willie and Merle, are still there. I know it might sound corny, but a big part of it is also a desire to make the world better place."