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You won’t find bluegrass under my music favorites on my Facebook page. It’s not something that springs to mind when asked to list genres I enjoy. And I definitely do not own any bluegrass albums. But after seeing the Dust Bowl Cavaliers, I’m starting to wonder if I should put one of their three albums on my Christmas list.
The band consists of six men: Matthew Young on upright bass, Ryan Raddatz on harmonica, Mark McConville and Cory Rouse on acoustic guitar, John Rosen on banjo, and David Keeton on snare drum. Most of them sing one or two songs at some point, and they are also fond of the harmonica. All of them are outstanding at their instrument (and sometimes they switch) but since the banjo is an especially amazing to watch, Rosen gets a few extra claps here and there.
The Cavaliers have three albums out, two of which can be found on iTunes. One is original music, one is covers of 80’s bands, and another is a cover of most of Tenacious D’s songs. During the show, Rouse explained, “This next song is for the ladies, but fellas: listen closely.” I thought to myself, gee, that sounds awfully familiar. And indeed, they started playing “F*** Her Gently”, all while making horrifyingly hilarious eye contact with the audience. They also played “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone, which was a lot of fun. Everyone helps backup sing, and rounds out the mostly string sound.
Besides their own music, The D’s, and 80’s covers, they also played a few songs that they told us to sing along to if we knew them. I had never heard them; they mostly were about loving the mountains and things as such, but the friend I was with was from north Florida (that is to say, the South), and she knew the songs, which she got a kick out of. All together, seeing the Dust Bowl Cavaliers was a very fun experience and I would recommend it for anyone who needs a little lively bluegrass pep in their lives.