Hillbilly Philly: The Ladies of Philly�s Indie-Country-Western Music Scene
�My motto is to not let old men in�tim�id�ate you. Just throw an el�bow. I wouldn�t be half the lady I am now if I didn�t make them make room.�
Bro-coun�try may still be a slick, pree�m�in�ent sub-genre with�in coun�try mu�sic�s rur�al firm�a�ment and tanned, brawny dudes such as Kenny Ches�ney pack sta�di�ums with their gen�tle�manly jive. Yet, in the middle of June�on the same week Dolly Par�ton sold out the Mann and Dixie Chicks, the BB&T Pa�vil�ion�South Philly�s once-and-former bas�tion of bar�room C&W, Boot & Saddle, hos�ted a re�cord re�lease party for bit�ter�sweet Emily �Bird�ie� Busch. The long�time Philly-folk-coun�try queen, who re�leased her first re�cord in 2006 (The Ways We Try), stood on the crammed tight stage de�b�ut�ing her sixth al�bum�the psy�che�del�ic-tinged Thun�der Bridge�with her el�eg�ant nu�anced voice and her strangely subtle av�ant-hill�billy band be�side her. �I love how ec�cent�ric coun�try mu�sic got in the 1960s with Lee Hazle�wood, Ro�ger Miller, Hazel Atkins,� says Busch. She quickly adds Ger�man�town jazz man Sun Ra to that list, if only for the �emo�tion�al in�flu�ence,� po�et�ic in�spir�a�tion (the title Thun�der Bridge is a ref�er�ence to a line in his poem �We Must Not say No to Ourselves�) and over�all will�ing�ness to free one�s mind so that her boots will fol�low.
Busch is not alone as a loc�al cow�girl with-or-without the blues.
At Bob & Bar�bara�s twice-monthly Wed�nes�days, sing�ers Han�nah Taylor and Sarah Larsen rule the roost, Larsen in par�tic�u�lar be�ing a sub-genre of her own; a fid�dler and a vo�cal�ist with the hootenanny-ing Hur�ricane Hoss and her folksy trio Lady�bird both ready�ing new al�bums for au�tumn re�lease. April Mae Iorio is a sassy, South Jer�sey lass with sev�er�al wild acts un�der her wide belt, the bold�est of which�April Mae & The June Bugs�is a hot mess of hill�billy bal�ladry, coun�try swing, jump blues and hard-nosed rocka�billy (plus, her Sun Kissed al�bum came out in June). Car�oline Leap too is a loc�al lass with a west�ern swing sting. Black Horse Motel is a long-run�ning dark coun�try quin�tet with three wo�men and an al�bum due out soon. Then there�s the ob�vi�ous folk-coun�try in�flu�ence on Philly al�tern�at�ive names such as the girl-fron�ted Hop Along and Cayetana whose twang is as strong and windy as their tang. Even Philly�s most prom�in�ent C&W ra�dio sta�tion, WXTU FM, has a Philly coun�try lily, An�die Sum�mers, as its morn�ing show co-host.
Not all of these Philly coun�try lasses got to C&W or bluegrass as pur�ists (Busch cer�tainly star�ted out folksy, with Larsen start�ing out through clas�sic�al and Mae a one-time met�al head), but they got there and hold high places of prom�in�ence with�in Philly�s mu�sic scene�coun�try or oth�er�wise. �Han�nah, like Sarah, is cent�ral to that,� says book�er/pro�moter Jesse Lundy who has slot�ted these ladies in�to the Phil�adelphia Folk Fest as well as the Ar�d�more Mu�sic Hall; both ven�ues that Busch, Mae and most of the afore�men�tioned loc�al coun�try wo�men have played. �They�re big col�lab�or�at�ors with all the acts, great sing�ers, have unique looks and vibes. They�re king�pins of the thing.�
Maybe queen pins is a bet�ter term.
When Busch star�ted play�ing and singing in Philly circa 2002, there was no coun�try scene in Philly, let alone one guided by wo�men. Hell, Boot & Saddle was but a glint in its de�veloper�s eye, a long-shuttered tap room that hadn�t seen nat�ur�al light since 1996 when it closed as a C&W sa�loon for vis�it�ing sail�ors and leath�ery punks. �I have found my�self al�ways resid�ing in a place�mu�sic�ally, song-wise�where people are nev�er really sure what to define it as,� says Busch, think�ing of her new�er works such as Thun�der Bridge. �I�ve grown to like that,� she con�tin�ues, ac�know�ledging her ini�tial in�spir�a�tions of Wil�lie Nel�son and Patsy Cline cas�settes played in her fam�ily�s sta�tion wag�ons (�and we went through 3 Wood�ie Wag�ons�) be�fore ad�oles�cence took hold. While such deep-rooted in�flu�ence didn�t come out in Busch�s writ�ing un�til age 15, Busch nev�er set out to sing any�thing tra�di�tion�ally, let alone coun�try. �I�ve just meant to keep to the tra�di�tion of hon�or�ing my voice, and some�times it can lead to be�ing a mis�fit book�ing-wise. I mean, I can do whatever I want and I usu�ally do. Ha. It�s worked out. I�ve al�ways had the pris�mat�ic ap�proach, and I think some people want to be wal�loped on the head with a single in�flu�ence or a crazy story, es�pe�cially people book�ing fest�ivals or clubs else�where, and yeah, that can be a chal�lenge to get people to take a chance and step out of that slant.� Between 2008 and 2010 however, Busch took the bull by the horns and be�came the femme fo�cus of coun�try club nights (�Barstool Moun�tain�) and cre�ated her own live mu�sic-and-hill�billy DJ parties, Philly Opry. ? Co-cre�ated by Busch and Johnny Brenda�s (then) book�ing mis�tress, Brandy Hartley, Philly Opry was meant to emu�late Chica�go�s long-run�ning urb�an cow�boy soir�ee Dev�il in a Wood�pile, us�ing old coun�try vari�ety shows (such as Hee Haw) as its visu�al in�spir�a�tion. �You know, where the stage sets were so out�rageous and goofy and every�one seemed to have such pres�ence,� says Busch. Gear�ing up for this au�tumn�s fifth Philly Opry at JBs, Busch says she likes show�cas�ing both loc�al and trav�el�ing acts for a di�verse coun�try-fied spec�trum, the sounds of which spice up her new, broad Thun�der Bridge, with its un�easy spa�cious�ness and psy�che�del�ic nu�ances nestled against her melod�ic coun�try-fied coo. �The best coun�try mu�sic to me has al�ways resided in a son�ic swamp, so I�ve tried to give people an ex�per�i�ence of swim�ming in that said la�goon of Bri�ga�doon. I guess much in the same way people say rock and rock is a state of mind not a sound, I kind of feel that way about coun�try. We con�tain mul�ti�tudes. Mu�sic is an end�less well.�
Around the same time Busch was ramp�ing-up Philly Opry and ex�pand�ing her sound (Thun�der Bridge has been in the works for a minute), April Mae�a mu�sic scene vet as the blues-belter of South Sat�urn Delta�began tour�ing throughout the South, be�fore bring�ing coun�try, rocka�billy, bluegrass and Pete See�ger-ish roots up North. �April Mae & The June Bugs was born in 2010,� she says, cred�it�ing Wanda Jack�son, Janice Mar�tin and Elvis Pres�ley as early loves. �R&B, gos�pel, and what they called hill�billy mu�sic back then are the in�gredi�ents, and when it ex�ploded it was like wild fire.�
Mae is a real pis�tol. A brassy sing�er, ka�zoo-ist and wash�board play�er, she tells mildly bawdy stor�ies like the one that goes, �My Por�tuguese grand�par�ents ac�tu�ally met on South Street dur�ing a Hal�loween parade. Grandpa used to say that he was walk�ing be�hind my grandma and liked the view.� When she dis�cusses her brand of hill�billy mu�sic, she men�tions its roots in Mem�ph�is� Sun Stu�di�os in Mem�ph�is, where it was re�cor�ded��all live on gor�geous 1940�s vin�tage mi�cro�phones to get that Sun feel and keep it real, no auto tunes, no loop�ing��while bran�dish�ing her South Jer�sey roots just as much as the mu�sic�s down-South her�it�age. �Some�times they think I�m from New Or�leans, which thrills me to the bone.�
While Busch moved around Philly (South and West Philly, now Ger�man�town) and Mae from N.J. to New Or�leans and back again, Sarah Larsen was a Wis�con�sin-born, small town clas�sic�al vi�ol�in�ist who made her way to Philly six years ago by way of Con�necti�c�ut and with-but-a-hint of dis�con�tent. �Noth�ing was harder�or more coun�try�than get�ting out here, find�ing there are no jobs AND hurt�ing my�self in an ac�ci�dent where I wasn�t sure if I�d ever be able to ro�tate my arms again,� says the high, honey-voiced Larsen. She walked dogs and waited tables un�til an�swer�ing an ad on Craigslist look�ing for a fiddle play�er for old time band gigs, an event that led to oth�er op�por�tun�it�ies in loc�al bluegrass ses�sions (e.g., re�cord�ing ses�sions for al�bums by Ben Arnold and Ma�son Port�er). It was bluegrass that pushed Larsen to con�sider her coun�try past, of the one ra�dio sta�tion in Wis�con�sin that was noth�ing but old time hill�billy mu�sic, of an uncle that gave her a Patsy Cline 8-track when she age 9. �That was the coolest thing I ever heard,� she says, quietly.
Larsen set about cre�at�ing the sweet-as-pie Philly county lady trio Lady�bird with Cecil�ia Ferne�borg and Laura Szk�larski, be�fore hit�ting upon the catty, cool, au�then�t�ic-sound�ing ped�al steel-in�fused Hur�ricane Hoss, her smash�ing solo pro�ject which sounds Straight Outta Nashville.
What it�s like as a young per�son play�ing old mu�sic is akin to what it is like for a Philly wo�man play�ing coun�try mu�sic. �When I first star�ted play�ing coun�try, I came in through bluegrass and met res�ist�ance from older folk who are based in tra�di�tion. As soon as I showed that I was humble and wanted to learn, people took a shine to me.�
Men�tion be�ing a Philly coun�try queen to Busch and ?she claims to not med�it�ate much on the sub�ject. �I�m more one who, when I�m not mak�ing mu�sic or mak�ing money to pay bills we all gots to pay, I�m try�ing to just dig on life in a big way. I med�it�ate more on just be�ing com�fort�able with my vis�ion, no mat�ter the age or trends of the time, and wish that for all the oth�er lassies, for all the oth�er �fil�lies.�
Larsen tells a cute story about one of her teach�ing gigs, where a bunch of little girls came up to her after the les�son, a tale that lends some in�sight in�to be�ing a young wo�man in an old man�s world.
�They were play�ing with my fiddle and ped�als and one girl said how beau�ti�ful I was be�cause I had my makeup on and hair all done up,� she laughs. �I was glad they thought I was at�tract�ive but I wanted to make sure they loved the mu�sic�which they did�that what was more im�port�ant; pro�mot�ing a pos�it�ive feel�ing amongst wo�men, be they old or young. Yes, this scene is pre�dom�in�antly men, but I run with some great wo�men here and am pleased as punch to have them in my life and in this scene. My motto is to not let old men in�tim�id�ate you. Just throw an el�bow. I wouldn�t be half the lady I am now if I didn�t make them make room.�
Amorosi, A.D. "Hillbilly Philly: The Ladies of Philly's Indie-Country-Western Music Scene." Philadelphia Weekly. June 29, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2016. http://philadelphiaweekly.com/2016/jun/29/hillbilly-philly-ladies-phillys-indie-country-western-music-scene/#.V3VMITVdpI8
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| Birdie Busch (B Philly Photography) |
Busch is not alone as a loc�al cow�girl with-or-without the blues.
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| Ladybird: Sarah Larsen, Cecilia Ferneborg and Laura Szklarski |
Not all of these Philly coun�try lasses got to C&W or bluegrass as pur�ists (Busch cer�tainly star�ted out folksy, with Larsen start�ing out through clas�sic�al and Mae a one-time met�al head), but they got there and hold high places of prom�in�ence with�in Philly�s mu�sic scene�coun�try or oth�er�wise. �Han�nah, like Sarah, is cent�ral to that,� says book�er/pro�moter Jesse Lundy who has slot�ted these ladies in�to the Phil�adelphia Folk Fest as well as the Ar�d�more Mu�sic Hall; both ven�ues that Busch, Mae and most of the afore�men�tioned loc�al coun�try wo�men have played. �They�re big col�lab�or�at�ors with all the acts, great sing�ers, have unique looks and vibes. They�re king�pins of the thing.�
Maybe queen pins is a bet�ter term.
 |
| April Mae & The June Bugs |
When Busch star�ted play�ing and singing in Philly circa 2002, there was no coun�try scene in Philly, let alone one guided by wo�men. Hell, Boot & Saddle was but a glint in its de�veloper�s eye, a long-shuttered tap room that hadn�t seen nat�ur�al light since 1996 when it closed as a C&W sa�loon for vis�it�ing sail�ors and leath�ery punks. �I have found my�self al�ways resid�ing in a place�mu�sic�ally, song-wise�where people are nev�er really sure what to define it as,� says Busch, think�ing of her new�er works such as Thun�der Bridge. �I�ve grown to like that,� she con�tin�ues, ac�know�ledging her ini�tial in�spir�a�tions of Wil�lie Nel�son and Patsy Cline cas�settes played in her fam�ily�s sta�tion wag�ons (�and we went through 3 Wood�ie Wag�ons�) be�fore ad�oles�cence took hold. While such deep-rooted in�flu�ence didn�t come out in Busch�s writ�ing un�til age 15, Busch nev�er set out to sing any�thing tra�di�tion�ally, let alone coun�try. �I�ve just meant to keep to the tra�di�tion of hon�or�ing my voice, and some�times it can lead to be�ing a mis�fit book�ing-wise. I mean, I can do whatever I want and I usu�ally do. Ha. It�s worked out. I�ve al�ways had the pris�mat�ic ap�proach, and I think some people want to be wal�loped on the head with a single in�flu�ence or a crazy story, es�pe�cially people book�ing fest�ivals or clubs else�where, and yeah, that can be a chal�lenge to get people to take a chance and step out of that slant.� Between 2008 and 2010 however, Busch took the bull by the horns and be�came the femme fo�cus of coun�try club nights (�Barstool Moun�tain�) and cre�ated her own live mu�sic-and-hill�billy DJ parties, Philly Opry. ? Co-cre�ated by Busch and Johnny Brenda�s (then) book�ing mis�tress, Brandy Hartley, Philly Opry was meant to emu�late Chica�go�s long-run�ning urb�an cow�boy soir�ee Dev�il in a Wood�pile, us�ing old coun�try vari�ety shows (such as Hee Haw) as its visu�al in�spir�a�tion. �You know, where the stage sets were so out�rageous and goofy and every�one seemed to have such pres�ence,� says Busch. Gear�ing up for this au�tumn�s fifth Philly Opry at JBs, Busch says she likes show�cas�ing both loc�al and trav�el�ing acts for a di�verse coun�try-fied spec�trum, the sounds of which spice up her new, broad Thun�der Bridge, with its un�easy spa�cious�ness and psy�che�del�ic nu�ances nestled against her melod�ic coun�try-fied coo. �The best coun�try mu�sic to me has al�ways resided in a son�ic swamp, so I�ve tried to give people an ex�per�i�ence of swim�ming in that said la�goon of Bri�ga�doon. I guess much in the same way people say rock and rock is a state of mind not a sound, I kind of feel that way about coun�try. We con�tain mul�ti�tudes. Mu�sic is an end�less well.�
Around the same time Busch was ramp�ing-up Philly Opry and ex�pand�ing her sound (Thun�der Bridge has been in the works for a minute), April Mae�a mu�sic scene vet as the blues-belter of South Sat�urn Delta�began tour�ing throughout the South, be�fore bring�ing coun�try, rocka�billy, bluegrass and Pete See�ger-ish roots up North. �April Mae & The June Bugs was born in 2010,� she says, cred�it�ing Wanda Jack�son, Janice Mar�tin and Elvis Pres�ley as early loves. �R&B, gos�pel, and what they called hill�billy mu�sic back then are the in�gredi�ents, and when it ex�ploded it was like wild fire.�
Mae is a real pis�tol. A brassy sing�er, ka�zoo-ist and wash�board play�er, she tells mildly bawdy stor�ies like the one that goes, �My Por�tuguese grand�par�ents ac�tu�ally met on South Street dur�ing a Hal�loween parade. Grandpa used to say that he was walk�ing be�hind my grandma and liked the view.� When she dis�cusses her brand of hill�billy mu�sic, she men�tions its roots in Mem�ph�is� Sun Stu�di�os in Mem�ph�is, where it was re�cor�ded��all live on gor�geous 1940�s vin�tage mi�cro�phones to get that Sun feel and keep it real, no auto tunes, no loop�ing��while bran�dish�ing her South Jer�sey roots just as much as the mu�sic�s down-South her�it�age. �Some�times they think I�m from New Or�leans, which thrills me to the bone.�
While Busch moved around Philly (South and West Philly, now Ger�man�town) and Mae from N.J. to New Or�leans and back again, Sarah Larsen was a Wis�con�sin-born, small town clas�sic�al vi�ol�in�ist who made her way to Philly six years ago by way of Con�necti�c�ut and with-but-a-hint of dis�con�tent. �Noth�ing was harder�or more coun�try�than get�ting out here, find�ing there are no jobs AND hurt�ing my�self in an ac�ci�dent where I wasn�t sure if I�d ever be able to ro�tate my arms again,� says the high, honey-voiced Larsen. She walked dogs and waited tables un�til an�swer�ing an ad on Craigslist look�ing for a fiddle play�er for old time band gigs, an event that led to oth�er op�por�tun�it�ies in loc�al bluegrass ses�sions (e.g., re�cord�ing ses�sions for al�bums by Ben Arnold and Ma�son Port�er). It was bluegrass that pushed Larsen to con�sider her coun�try past, of the one ra�dio sta�tion in Wis�con�sin that was noth�ing but old time hill�billy mu�sic, of an uncle that gave her a Patsy Cline 8-track when she age 9. �That was the coolest thing I ever heard,� she says, quietly.
Larsen set about cre�at�ing the sweet-as-pie Philly county lady trio Lady�bird with Cecil�ia Ferne�borg and Laura Szk�larski, be�fore hit�ting upon the catty, cool, au�then�t�ic-sound�ing ped�al steel-in�fused Hur�ricane Hoss, her smash�ing solo pro�ject which sounds Straight Outta Nashville.
What it�s like as a young per�son play�ing old mu�sic is akin to what it is like for a Philly wo�man play�ing coun�try mu�sic. �When I first star�ted play�ing coun�try, I came in through bluegrass and met res�ist�ance from older folk who are based in tra�di�tion. As soon as I showed that I was humble and wanted to learn, people took a shine to me.�
Men�tion be�ing a Philly coun�try queen to Busch and ?she claims to not med�it�ate much on the sub�ject. �I�m more one who, when I�m not mak�ing mu�sic or mak�ing money to pay bills we all gots to pay, I�m try�ing to just dig on life in a big way. I med�it�ate more on just be�ing com�fort�able with my vis�ion, no mat�ter the age or trends of the time, and wish that for all the oth�er lassies, for all the oth�er �fil�lies.�
Larsen tells a cute story about one of her teach�ing gigs, where a bunch of little girls came up to her after the les�son, a tale that lends some in�sight in�to be�ing a young wo�man in an old man�s world.
�They were play�ing with my fiddle and ped�als and one girl said how beau�ti�ful I was be�cause I had my makeup on and hair all done up,� she laughs. �I was glad they thought I was at�tract�ive but I wanted to make sure they loved the mu�sic�which they did�that what was more im�port�ant; pro�mot�ing a pos�it�ive feel�ing amongst wo�men, be they old or young. Yes, this scene is pre�dom�in�antly men, but I run with some great wo�men here and am pleased as punch to have them in my life and in this scene. My motto is to not let old men in�tim�id�ate you. Just throw an el�bow. I wouldn�t be half the lady I am now if I didn�t make them make room.�
Amorosi, A.D. "Hillbilly Philly: The Ladies of Philly's Indie-Country-Western Music Scene." Philadelphia Weekly. June 29, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2016. http://philadelphiaweekly.com/2016/jun/29/hillbilly-philly-ladies-phillys-indie-country-western-music-scene/#.V3VMITVdpI8
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