(check out Leslie’s new band Hickory Slims on facebook!)
| Long long ago (…2005) in a land flowing with whiskey and bluegrass harmonies, the band known as Angus Whyte and the Irish Rednecks worked tirelessly to entertain the masses with their cheeky antics and wildly entertaining tunes. Over the years band members came and went, but the group always had a blast playing shows from Mississippi to Monteagle, at frat parties, house shows and in staple venues in Nashville like The End and Spanky McGees (well, maybe that’s not a staple and maybe it’s called Joe’s Place now, but I had to fit the name of that bar in this post somehow). I was recruited to join AW&IR (affectionately known as Angus) after I returned from studying abroad in Spain in 2006 and immediately fell in with the group’s snarky original songs about whiskey, love gone wrong…and, well, other stuff too. We also covered everything from the White Stripes to Toto and sang some lyrics at the Americana Folk Festival that probably haven’t appeared in songs at the festival since. If you haven’t figured it out by now, we were slightly vulgar, almost always joking and rarely ever serious or 100% sober on stage. Ah, the good ol’ days of playing in a band in college. |
Mucho tiempo atras (…2005) en una tierra llena de whiskey y musica bluegrass, la banda conocida como Angus Whyte and the Irish Rednecks trabajaba sin descansar para diverter a las masas con su canticos armoniosos y entretenidos temas. Con el pasar de los anos, los miembros de la banda iban y venian, pero el grupo siempre lo paso genial tocando en shows desde Mississippi a Monteagle, en fiestas de fraternidades, shows caseros y locales tipicos en Nashville como The End o Spanky McGees (bueno,ese no es tan tipico porque ahora se llama Joe’s Place, pero tenia que escribir el nombre del bar en algun lugar). Fui reclutada para unirme a esta grupo (que con carino llamamos Angus) luego de volver de Espana el 2006 y de inmediato me incorpore a la dinamica del grupo y las canciones sobre whiskey, amores equivocados…y bueno, otras cosas tambien. Tambien cantamos covers de otras bandas, desde White Stripes a Toto y cantamos algunas canciones en el festival de Americana Folk que no han aparecido desde entonces. Si no lo han descubierto ya, eramos muy vulgares, casi siempre bromeando y raramente serios o 100% sobrios en el scenario. Ah, tiempos aquellos, tocando musica con una banda en la Universidad. |
Angus Whyte at the Muse in 2007
playing a house show in 2006
playing the Family Wash in 2007
Our last show – when we played as the Angus Whyte Trio at the Americana Folk Festival in 2008
| Alas, all great things must come to an end, at least temporarily. The members of the band went their separate ways in 2008: Eric (bass) moved to Spain, John (banjo) moved to New Orleans, Willie (mandolin) moved everywhere and I decided I had to focus on my master’s in Latin American Studies. Josh and I were the only ones that stayed in Nashville and he started playing mandolin with the amazing Humming House (if you haven’t heard them yet you’re seriously missing out!). I’ve been missing the Angus shenanigans ever since. | Pero bueno, todas las cosas buenas tienen que tener un final, por lo menos temporalmente. Los miembros de la banda se separaron y cada uno sigui un camino diferent el 2008: Eric (bajo) se fue a Espana, John (banjo) se mudo a Nueva Orleans, Willie (mandolin) se mudo a todos la lados, y yo me enfoque en terminar mi magister en Estudios Latinoamericanos. Josh (guitarra) y yo fuimos los unicos que nos quedamos en Nashville y el comenzo a tocar el mandolin con otro grupo genial , Humming House (si no los han escuchado se lo estan perdiendo!). Yo he extranado las locuras de Angus desde entonces. |
a couple of weekends ago Johnny came in town with his wife Sarah before moving to Germany and we had an AW&IR reunion!
| This past May Josh e-mailed me out of the blue to let me know that Willie was moving back to Nashville with his lovely wife Alethea and was interested in playing music again, whether it was just jamming on the porch for fun or actually starting a group. Eric had since moved back to Nashville as well after getting a master’s at Harvard, so things were coming together. Unfortunately, John was still living in New Orleans (and has since moved to Germany to do research for his PhD in linguistics!) so we figured we should start something new – keep the tomfoolery, create a new name and slightly different sound. | En Mayo, Josh me mando un email de la nada para contarme que Willie volvia a Nashville con su hermosa esposa Alathea y estaba interesado en hacer musica nuevamente, ya sea por tocar musica no mas en el porch o por emepzar una banda. Eric ya habia vuelto a Nashville despues de completar su magister en Harvard, asi que las cosas volvian a ponerse en su lugar. Desafortunadamente, John todavia vivia en Nueva Orleans (y ahora se ha mudado a Alemania para hacer investigacion en su doctorado en linguistica!) asi que pensamos que era hora de comenzar algo nuevo – mantener las locuras, crear un nuevo nombre, y un sonido un poquito diferente. |
| I’ve been waiting to post about this group since May, but it’s literally taken this long for us to come up with a name. So now, after several months of practicing together re-hashing old songs and learning new ones, I’m very happy to introduce Hickory Slims – the newest purveyors of halfgrass/applecore with a healthy dose of bluegrass harmonies, folky lyrics and americana style (both fashion and sound – we sure love our plaid button ups). We’ll be posting videos and photos and other nonsense on our facebook page (there’s a video up now! Go listen!) and it’s so much more fun when there are other people interacting with us and egging us on, so please do mosey on over and give us a “like” if you do have a facebook page. We also have instagram and twitter – both accounts are @hickoryslims. So please! Satisfy your curiosity and go check us out!! | He estado esperando para postear esta historia del grupo desde Mayo, pero nos ha tomado todo este tiempo para decidirnos en el nombre del grupo. Asi que ahora, despues de muchos meses practicando juntos, perfeccionando canciones y aprendiendo nuevas, estoy muy feliz de presentarles a Hickory Slims – la nueva mezcla de sonidos con armonias, letras folkloricas y estilo Americana (en cuento a fashion y sonido!). Postearemos videos y fotos y otras tonteras en nuetra pagina de facebook (tenemos un video ya! Escuchenlo!) y es muy entretenido cunado hay otras personas interactuando con nosotros y motivandonos, asi que por favot visiten la pagina, hagan click en “me gusta” si tienen facebook. Tembien tenemos instagram y twitter – ambas cuentas tienen como nombre @hickoryslims. Asi que por favor! Satisfagan su curiosidad y vean lo que estamos haciendo! |
Los Rodriguez Life 
5 responses to “Hickory Slims!”
I’m so glad you guys are getting back together. I missed all that great music, and can’t wait to hear your new stuff.
Yes! Looking forward to a performance!!!
[…] spend as much time as we can out there. It’s also the home to the Porch Practice Sessions for Hickory Slims, so I spend quite a bit of time on that little slab of concrete in front of the house. After Javi […]
[…] around that same time my new band Hickory Slims re-surfaced after a several-year hiatus from our Angus Whyte and the Irish Redneck days in college. I’ve missed playing music with these guys and I’m so happy we’re playing music […]
[…] has officially lost its second first show virginity! This was our first show as Hickory Slims but, as I’ve said previously about this group, we used to play together under the name Angus Whyte and the Irish Rednecks. We actually played […]