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Filtered through a half-century of folk, country and rock 'n' roll, and fed by family
history and an affinity for acoustic mountain music, medicine show culture and Depression-
era string-band blues, Hillfolk Noir make compelling music.
Travis and Ali Ward, the husband-and-wife half of the touring quartet (the Hillfolk handle
also applies when Travis performs solo or leads a duo or trio), grew up in Sandpoint, Idaho,
near the Canadian border where ghostly echoes of the region's settlers reverberate off the
walls of the valley.
Though the history of their native soil informs their music, it wasn't until Travis and Ali
moved to Boise independent of each other that they met.
"Ali was playing gigs as a folk singer-songwriter at local coffee shops, and I was playing
electric bass in local bands," Travis says. "After a long day of work, I went to a bar to
play ping-pong and have a beer. It was here that a mutual friend introduced us. We quickly
hit it off and realized that we grew up in the same small Northern Idaho town. We soon
started writing songs and performing together, got married, had three kids and made some
records. And here we are."
Hillfolk Noir's contribution to this century-old language has been described as a dark,
country-tinged, swampy-swingin', hillbilly-delta-blues-ragtime word machine. The band's
invented name for its singular sound is Junkerdash.
"We make the music for ourselves because we love it; we are having a great time and
hopefully that is infectious," Travis says. "Music, especially live music, can be such a
powerful experience for all kinds of people. Live music is a shared experience – a series of
moments that can really change a person's day or outlook. That being said, our music seems
to strike an emotional chord with many folks – perhaps because to pull off this really
acoustic old-time sound, we sing and play our guts out. Every song".
US media quote: "If John Steinbeck owned a speakeasy, Hillfolk Noir would be the house
band." |
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