Comprising vocal powerhouse Elena Skye and guitarist Boo Reiner, the country-rock outfit known as the Demolition String Band emerged far from the Southern locales commonly associated with the genre. The pair came together in New Jersey during 1996—Skye having grown up in Chicago while Reiner originated in Virginia—after crossing paths inside a neighborhood bookstore and launching into shared bluegrass performances that soon drew positive coverage from The New York Times, Billboard, and The Village Voice. North Hollow Records, a fledgling independent imprint, put out their first album, One Dog Town, in 1998, an effort promptly followed by an extensive trek across the United States. The following year brought a country-inflected single version of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” which in turn preceded the October 2001 arrival of their second long-player, Pulling Up Atlantis. Their 2004 project Where the Wild, Wild Flowers Grow turned attention toward the catalog of Ola Belle Reed, the underappreciated Appalachian songwriter. Drummer Phil Cimino and bassist Winston Roye augmented the lineup on the 2007 release Different Kinds of Love. Beyond mounting their own headline dates, the Demolition String Band supported concerts by Patti Smith, Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Spector, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, while Skye and Reiner also joined the Upright Citizens Brigade for appearances on Comedy Central and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
