Beards and baseball caps, T-shirts and jeans, this quartet is real-deal Americana from Cincinnati, Ohio. Two lead vocalists, one on guitar, the other swapping around between banjo, guitar, fiddle and kazoo, plus a fiddler who adds backing vocals, and a solid silent figure on double bass.
The songs are mostly their own, based around their own experiences or stories that inspired them, so there's everything from a tale of a teenage dishwasher to a tragic civil war love story, a bit of Woody Guthrie and a beautiful Cincinnati blues from the 20s. Musically they are more about fun than flash. Neither of the leads could be thought of as great singers, yet they fit the music perfectly and have plenty of character, and the overall sound is about the interplay of the instruments without need for fancy solos. The set is largely uptempo, foot tapping and hand clapping and a fair bit of singalong. They talk a lot between numbers, a fund of stories about the origins of their material and their experiences on tour being related with relish and a lot of laughs.
The Tillers are a good, honest country and bluegrass band who provide some memorable tunes and a great live experience. Go see them next time they are back over here.
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