A proper LP should be more than a handful of singles and some throwaway cuts. True music lovers know that sometimes a record deserves a proper beginning to end listen, where you start with track one and end a dozen or so tracks later.
A concept album deserves that type of listen, a record with a narrative where the story drives the music, something like “Joe’s Garage,” “Quadrophenia” or “The Ballad of Charlie Avalon,” the latest from local roots and newgrass band Stillhouse Junkies, whose roots-rock opera proves that concept albums aren’t just limited to rock and prog-rock bands.
Stillhouse Junkies’ front-person and guitar player Fred Kosak likes the medium and wanted to buck the current listening trend of random playlists and singles.
“I’ve always loved concept albums, and the idea of making a record that benefits from a front to back, uninterrupted listen is just kind of a cool thing, and I always thought it’d be cool to do that,” he said. “It grew from there into this story, and we ended up adding narration to help fit it all together, and it became this whole project that was five years on the making.”
A story loosely based on the life of Mississippi John Hurt, Kosak’s narrative on his band’s movement through the music business, the narration coming from musician Sam Bush, whose Kentucky drawl is perfect for a tale where Kosak relays his band’s motion in the music business.
“I just thought it would be a cool way for us to write about our experiences in the music industry, and some of the things any artist who goes out and tours and records and tries to make a life in music is going to experience and have to reckon with,” Kosak said.
File under bluegrass, but this anything but traditional; it’s a roots-rock record with the old-school banjo backing the Bush narration throughout the record. The rest a solid display of the Stillhouse Junkie sound they’ve been building since Day One, a sound that rolls from experimental acoustic to bluegrass boogie, with songs that dance around gospel and blues; there’s newgrass chops in the cut “Invocation,” while a cut like “Charlie’s Theme” plays like an anthemic score.
“Hold On To It” is hopeful roots-pop; “Down the Line” is a dance-floor swinger that’s ripe playing for a newgrass band and could easily be a cocktail jazz cruiser; and “The Whiskey Works the Same in New York City” has jam vibes all the way down to the splashy bass.
They also drop a gospel beauty in “On My Dying Day,” an instrumental-less cut save for Kosak’s croon, backed by the rest of the band.
While this story is one of someone giving the music biz a go, it’s a story that could be for anyone putting themselves out there to “make it.” The Stillhouse Junkies have taken their share of leaps of artistic and music business faith, their experiences likely similar to anyone else putting themselves out there.
“I think there’s lyrics that are relatable for everybody, even if you’re not a musician but if you’re going for something in life,” said Alissa Wolf, fiddle. “Like, if you make a decision to try something you’ve never tried before, and whether you’ll succeed or not, there’s a message in this album.”
With this double LP now released, the Junkies will go back to living out of a suitcase. There’s also a fresh face, as the band is now joined by Jeanette Adams on bass, coming to the band after Wolf caught her playing in Durango back in January with both Birds of Play and the other still-house band, Still House String Band.
“I love her energy,” Wolf said.
Stillhouse Junkies will be touring both the East and West coasts, along with stops in the Midwest and South throughout August and into September and will play their annual fall hometown show Oct. 18 at the Durango Arts Center.
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
