Old-Time String Band Shares Ichabod’S With Punk Rockers

How’s this for a strange brew? An old-time string band, screaming punk-metal rockers and another roaring punk band. Sounds like downers gulped with double espresso.

That’s what’s on tap tonight at Ichabod’s North.

But the string band, Portland’s Dickel Brothers, put out an album on a punk rock label and have a growing following thanks to their rowdy, hoot ‘n’ holler, whiskey-swilling live shows that owe much to punk. They even wear old-fashioned hats and suits. They’re so far out of the mainstream, they’re cool.

Still, an acoustic string band? We’re talking about a brand of music not heard in over half a century. But the Dickel Brothers wail on these strings.

Guitarist Matt Dickel says the reaction they get at rock clubs has been good. “It seems like we have a pretty wide audience. No one seems to be too thrown off by what we’re doing,” he said by phone. “They might question it at first, but everyone seems to enjoy it.”

Meghan Smith of Seattle’s eMpTy Records, the Dickels’ label, says the band “has been very well received in the punk community. Punk rockers have a wide musical taste, and are open to jazz, country and old-time music.”

The Dickels - fiddler Clancy, guitarist Matt, Michael on mandolin/washboard, bassist Brian and Marcus on banjo - came together mostly by chance. (They’re not brothers, by the way, but all adopted the Dickel name for the stage.)

Clancy and Matt, who had been together a few years, played at Michael’s record store in 1997, and Michael joined up. Then Marcus came into the store with his banjo case and they all began talking. Brian shifted over from another string band.

They play commercial string band music from the 1920s and ‘30s, and even older. “That’s where we draw everything from,” Matt says. “We’re not a country band.”

The Dickels, who share singing chores, put their own twist on the music. “We play them a lot faster than they really are,” Matt says. “That’s the spirit of us as musicians. We can get pretty wild. We kinda play to our own personal insights, what we feel.”

And, Matt says, “We get pretty rowdy on stage.”

That free spirit goes even further. “You’ll catch us in the crowd a lot. … It feels good to us,” he adds.

That allows the band to connect with concertgoers. “It’s all one. It’s music for the people and from the people and it’s us giving it back.”

Earlier this year, the Dickels put out a prime 14-song album, “Volume One.” Twelve are traditional numbers with two originals by the Dickels.

“Sales are doing OK for a new band,” Smith says. “It’s a slow build anyway. It’s all about getting people to know who they are.”

Two other Portland bands, all friends with the Dickels, will open the show: Fireballs of Freedom and Lopez.

The four members of Fireballs of Freedom grew up together in the Midwest with punk and metal music running in their veins. They’ve been a band for more than a decade now.

Seattle’s Rocket magazine says of their shows: “Onstage, they elicit a blue-collar, sweat-drenched intensity as they rock with wild, where-have-all-the-good-times-gone abandon, mopping up audiences with the most raucous, loose-limbed cacophony this side of Detroit.”

If you caught their show at Ichabod’s last February, you already know that.

The punk band Lopez, formerly of Wenatchee, is also a veteran of Spokane stages.

Cover is $5, and the show starts at 9:30 p.m. The club is at 1827 N. Division.

Blues Society awards show

Looks like the Inland Empire Blues Society has a top-flight headliner for its 1999 Empire Awards show on Thursday at the Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute Commons, 4000 W. Randolph Road.

Guitarist and singer/songwriter Debbie Davies has shared the stage with blues greats Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. She won the 1997 W.C. Handy Award for female contemporary blues artist. She’s recorded five albums, the latest being “Tales From the Austin Motel.” And she works the international blues circuit hard, performing some 200 dates a year.

Legendary bluesman John Mayall says of Davies: “I don’t often give endorsements or references, but once in a rare while I hear a musician of such talent that I want people to know. I believe that my reputation backs up my ability to recognize exceptional blues guitarists. Such a one is Debbie Davies.”

Other reviews are equally full of praise:

* “Davies’ power-driven combination of Chicago and Texas-style blues playing sets her apart from her female contemporaries.” - Associated Press.

* “Davies’ singing is warm, natural and lyrical, while her passionate, intelligent guitar playing reflects the true blues dues she has paid.” - Blues Access.

The Painkillers will also perform at Thursday’s awards show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Advance tickets are $12 for blues society members and $15 for others, available through G&B Select-a-Seat. Tickets are $16 the day of the show.