Sunday, July 7, 2019, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
The Back Room
1984 Bonita Avenue
Berkeley, CA
Virtuosic violin meets 1920’s-style swing, hot jazz and
Yiddish song. The Sour Mash Hug Band evokes an era that never quite existed.
Featuring original compositions reminiscent of Kurt
Weill, Tom Waits, and Danny Elfman, plus a trove of dusty tunes gleaned from
old 78s, the Sour Mash will take you on a journey into musical history like no
other! Paris in the 30’s, Harlem in the 20’s, New Orleans in the 90’s…who knows
where the next song will take you?
Led by violinist and bandleader Mickey Galloway, the band
has crisscrossed the country via bike, bus, freight train, and broken-down van,
playing at every street corner and dive bar that would have them. This took
them to San Francisco, Bellingham, New York and farther afield to Transylvania,
Paris and Krakow, and finally to New Orleans, which became their home away from
home. Highlights have included performances at the Monterey Jazz Festival,
Northwest Folklife, the Disney Museum, Millenaris in Budapest, and Lightning in
a Bottle. For over a decade, the band split their time between the rag-tag
circus haunts of Oakland and the hot jazz haven where Royal Street meets
Frenchman, while spending summers going wherever the music led them.
"An irresistible mix of old-time, gypsy, bluegrass,
jazz, Irish, and ragtime." –The San Francisco Chronicle
"Folk Music in the most beautiful sense. They draw
from a wide variety of sources, play songs and tunes on an unpredictable lineup
of instruments, and make the music their own." – Robert Blake, Subdued
String Band Festival Program
“A true treasure of the Bay Area, that has toes tapping
and people dancing for miles around.” – San Francisco Bay Times
Cost: $15 - $18
