The Bad BongWater Boys

If you're passing through Kitchener's Victoria Park on a Saturday afternoon and hear what sounds like someone blasting the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, it's really the Bad Bongwater Boys making their weekly appearance at The Boathouse. For fans of old time music and bluegrass, there really is no better way to spend a couple of hours, especially since the group, all in their early 20s, have embraced this sound with all the passion that comes with their age.Built around a lineup that alternates between six and 10 members, all from Elmira, the BBBs formed just last year out of loose jam sessions."We're actually still discovering ourselves, as far as members and material go," says guitarist/singer Dave Soehner."We've all been friends for a long time, but we really got into the music once we realized it's the most inviting kind to play, where everybody can get involved in singing and soloing."That attitude is plainly evident in the group's performances, during which they often swap instruments and take turns singing their repertoire that ranges from old time standards to interpretations of more recent material by The Band and the Grateful Dead, as well as a growing catalogue of original songs.In fact, one of their main inspirations is Old Crow Medicine Show, the group that has been leading the most recent charge to update old time music."Listening to that stuff led us to discover a lot of music from the '20s and '30s, jug bands in particular," says banjoist/singer Ryan Baer."That became the sound we wanted to achieve, and that sort of happens naturally now, no matter what songs we're playing. Whether we're rehearsing or playing a show, it's always the same vibe, and that's what we hope to do when we start recording too."The members agree that they are well on their way to having an 80-20 split in favour of original songs over covers and are just beginning to explore the traditional recording techniques of utilizing only one microphone.It's a sign of their tremendous progress, considering that each basically chose their own roles within the band."We started out just by jamming on guitar, banjo and mandolin," Soehner says. "But when other people started to get involved, they just picked up instruments that fit, like standup bass and washboard and kazoo."We're open to experimenting with anything at this point, and even though we're not the greatest players in the world, I think having so many diverse personalities in the band makes it really interesting."But what they say is the most fun right now is being able to turn people onto this sound that they have all become so infatuated with."We're really doing it for the love of the music," says mandolin player Dave Bossenberry."I mean, how often nowadays can you hear a bluegrass band, especially one our age? It's been great to get feedback from people like, wow, there are actually young people who still like good music. We know that these songs need to be kept alive too, and we're happy to do that."