Hillbilly Hickhop

What happens when Country meets Punk? -- Picture by blogSpotter

by blogSpotter
I'm not a musician, nor a music reviewer but I feel it necessary to give a little replay of my evening at Austin Texas' Hole in the Wall this past Saturday. I was there to see my cousin's boyfriend, Scott Biram, perform his unusual blend of blues, country and heavy metal. My cousin Lizzie (aka Leroy) was in good spirits, introducing me to all her musician friends. Lizzie's pink hair was hardly a standout next to people covered with head-to-toe tattoos and Anglo guys with 2-foot dreadlocks. One of her friends casually showed where he just lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. The club was a fascinating mix of wholesome college Greek types, hippies, grunge rockers, middle aged patrons and a couple of drunks.

The stage area was barely elevated so only the throng at the front could see Scott. Scott plays a new variety of music which is a blend (according to one observer) of blues + country + punk. Someone else described it as "hillbilly heavy metal". In some parts, I thought he sounded like a sped up Ted Nugent or maybe Commander Cody; a musician watching with me said that's all wrong -- it's much more like Muddy Waters with a little gospel thrown in. If you are experiencing a giant "what the hell?" to these descriptions, you'll have to hear the music. Scott is a one-man band who plays percussion and guitar at the same time. The music is interlaced with sound effects, jokes, mild profanity and verbal asides about the song coming up. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, I detected elements of Johnny Cash and a couple of shout outs that called to mind Ray Charles. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm right.

One young man I spoke to was Mike Bourland, a 41-year old musician who is a major Scott Biram fan. Bourland described his own music as "hillbilly hickhop". Mike's Bourland Band is only part of his schedule. His "real" job is that of an AMD electrical engineer designing chips. When Mike isn't singing hickhop or designing the next generation of computer chips, he's creating short films for the next Southwest film festival. I told Mr. Bourland that he does more on a Thursday than I've done in my whole life. He said that he's joyfully manic and would have it no other way. I would be full of envy if I weren't so full of admiration for these creative types. Mike made a complete fan out of me when He admitted that he was a social liberal and fiscal conservative -- he had to flee the GOP in 2004 because of Bush's misdeeds. He wrote some songs to reinforce those feelings.

I'm probably too old school to appreciate the complete picture of hickhop or country punk. Willie Nelson is all I need to "get jiggy" with a country sound. But these young artists are cranking out the CD's and have international followings. Where there is smoke there is fire, and this hillbilly heavy metal is generating a brilliant blaze. For more information, check out these web links:

Scott Biram Web Site
Bourland Music Site

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