Member Since: 4/11/2006
Band Website: newagehillbilly.com
Band Members: Alex Strama - SOUNDS
Influences: Beck, Bob Log III, Lonesome Organist, Calvin Johnson, PapaM, Entrance, Jakuta and Carl, Stewart, Chief Pokawa, Bo Lee Da, Jesus in Disguise, Mother Orchid, RL. Burnside, Cex, Squarepusher, Human Host
Sounds Like: "So the opener, New Age Hillbilly, is a friendly enough fellow from the outskirts of Baltimore. The crowd, a mixture of teenagers, bitter adults, and various human ephemera, stood or sat in place, clearly non-plussed by the Hillbilly's musical stylings. Playing solo guitar, he played songs that recalled the worst of the mid 90's pop-punk explosion, sans rhythm, melody or backing band, as well as a series of embarrassingly uninspired noise wanks. I can't recall which style left me less interested. I can only assume that New Age Hillbilly gets by on endearment, that he can somehow come across as a loveable loser, instead of a regular one. The tiniest inspiration one could find in the Hillbilly could come from the fairly astonishing fact that someone can perform so obviously poorly, yet continue forward. That said, I still managed to hurl a few "boo"s his way between songs, impatient for the fun that Jeff the Pigeon consistently delivers" FRESH PATINA BLOG SPOT 3/06
"The musical guests were great too. And by great, I mean some of the most awkward things Ive ever witnessed.
The first night featured New Age Hillbilly. He was groundbreaking, which it turns out isnt always a good thing. Before he touched any instruments, he stripped down to his boxers. If you had a body like Tom Arnold, youd flaunt it too. Then he picked up his Squire and started playing Nirvanas Lithium. I thought, Okay, hes opening on a cover. Thats safe. Then he started screaming, YOU GOT SHIT ON YOUR FACE. YOU BETTER GET IT OFF! for around 3 minutes. It was hilarious. The problem is it wasnt supposed to be.
In the next song, there was a push-up solo. Whats a push-up solo? Thats when the singer starts doing push-ups for no apparent reason.
Later in his set, a song featured a 15 second machine gun solo, in which he pretended to shoot the crowd for 15 seconds. To give you an idea of how awkward this was, imagine being forced to watch two guys rub their bare asses together.
The next song had a ten second train solo.
He closed on a guitar solo in which he played 5 power chords while shaking the guitar to give the effect that he was playing something difficult.
Once he finished, he had an awkward conversation with the emcee for about 20 seconds before the show commenced. The crowd had no idea what was going on." Ryan Conner
"I'd like to go on the record as saying I'm terrified of experimental local music. The first act of the night was a heavyset grunge rock guy. After being onstage for ten seconds or so, he stripped down to his boxers and spent his set dancing around as machine gun fire played over the loudspeakers. In his defense, the air conditioning was off ... On the second night of the festivities, the earlier MC was unable to make it since his truck broke down. So the musical act from the first night hosted the show for us. Clothes were left on, and he was a suprisingly amiable and pleasent host." Jimmy Merrit
Record Label: MT6,Peace,HumanConduct,Hemisphere,LittleJoePeep
Type of Label: Indie