The Gourds

The Gourds blend rowdy honky-tonk energy with offbeat humor and cult following, fully earning the “alternative” label within alternative country-rock. Deeply rooted in Austin’s thriving music community, the group became regular favorites at the city’s annual SXSW festival. Their 1997 debut album, Dem’s Good Beeble, first drew notice from the No Depression audience through its loose, porch-jam atmosphere. On the 1998 follow-up Stadium Blitzer the band’s eccentric streak grew more pronounced, especially in tracks with puzzling themes such as “Plaid Coat” and the lighthearted “I Ate the Haggis.”

Still in 1998, the live EP Gogitchershinebox carried two covers that reached college radio. While their take on “Ziggy Stardust” stirred comment, the brisk, twang-driven version of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” proved the real draw. The collapse of Watermelon Records soon removed the band’s earlier releases from circulation after the 1999 album Ghosts of Hallelujah appeared. Sugar Hill Records quickly filled the gap, issuing the fourth album Bolsa de Agua in 2000 and restoring the prior catalog over the ensuing year.

Founding members included multi-instrumentalist vocalists Kevin Russell and Jimmy Smith, who also split songwriting duties, along with accordionist Claude Bernard and drummer Charlie Llewellin. Llewellin departed in late 1997 or early 1998; longtime associate Keith Langford took the drum chair after the Damnations TX dismissed him upon realizing he wished to join the Gourds yet hesitated to quit his original group. Max Johnston, already known from Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, contributed banjo, fiddle, and other instruments to Ghosts of Hallelujah before becoming a full member. With this lineup the band released Bolsa de Agua in summer 2000, followed by Cow Fish Fowl or Pig in 2002, Blood of the Ram in 2004, Heavy Ornamentals in 2006, Noble Creatures in 2007, and Haymaker! in 2009. They also composed the soundtrack for Mike Woolf’s documentary Growin’ a Beard. The following year the group signed with Vanguard Records and began recording its tenth studio album. Produced by Bob Dylan veteran Larry Campbell at Levon Helm’s studio in upstate New York, Old Mad Joy reached stores in October 2011.