An interview with Josh Rabie of the Water Tower Bucket Boys

Much like a small handful of specific places throughout the United States, a few parts of the Pacific Northwest are fertile breeding grounds from which so many great bands and singer/songwriters emerge these days, especially in independent and underground music. Portland, Oregon’s folk punk trio Water Tower Bucket Boys are just such a band, with a sound that is not only firmly lodged in a few very recognizable areas of roots music, like Appalachian folk and country, it is also wrapped tightly around one or two genres from the world’s contemporary underground, like punk.

When I say the Water Tower Bucket Boys’ sound is folk punk, that is in no way to suggest that both musical styles are equally present, since there is a good deal more folk involved than there is punk. Now, their sound can also be referred to as “punkgrass” – a combination of punk and bluegrass –, which I think is a bit more accurate than folk punk, truth to tell. Even so, the same applies, as it is decidedly less punk and more bluegrass in the end. And that is why it is best to simply refer to them as a roots revival string band.

Being that their songs go back and forth from lively unplugged compositions to rustic pickers that are both precise and sober, with an occasional folky strumming number, they show a musical range that is loosely based on the traditional side of things, but even more than that it tends to flirt with the contemporary without ever truly committing to it. And that is why the music of the Water Tower Bucket Boys is modern-day roots revival at its best: they are clearly more concerned with playing good acoustic music than constrainedly working within the limited space of a single genre, or even two genres.   

These trucker cap, flannel shirt and blue jean-wearing fellas only use acoustic instrumentation. Kenny Feinstein plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica, and sings. Josh Rabie plays fiddle, guitar and harmonica, and sings as well. Cory Goldman plays banjo and guitar, and also sings. Sometimes the trio becomes a quartet with the inclusion of Gordon Keepers, who often contributes upright bass to the Bucket Boys’ songs. All four are remarkably talented musicians, each of whom has either studied music extensively or possesses a degree in one musical area or another. They also play in musical projects apart from Water Tower Bucket Boys, such as the Foghorn Stringband, The Crooked Jades, and Jackstraw. As the Water Tower Bucket Boys, however, they have spent loads of time on the road gigging, and they have gone on a handful of international tours. To date, they have also self-released at least four albums and a couple of EP’s, practicing admirable DIY methods and punk ethics, and remaining true to independent music in all the ways that truly matter.

Sole Kitchen is the title of the Water Tower Bucket Boys’ latest full-length album. It is quite a ride, this album, all thirteen tracks of it. The opener, “Crooked Road,” has slow twangy verses and fast bursts of pickin’ and fiddlin’, as well as lyrics about Appalachia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and the locals’ mighty homemade hooch whose ingredients involve Mountain Dew, corn liquor, and white whiskey. Then there are the songs at the middle, like the short but hearty bluegrass instrumental “London Breakdown” and the very country “Since You’ve Been Gone.” And, finally, the closer, “Heaven,” which is a light folky jaunt with lyrics pertaining to the afterlife, about which they sing to their friends, If you arrive before me you won’t be hangin’ too long, I’ll be right behind you with a beer and this song. A few of the other standouts are definitely the vigorous pickin’ and soulful vocal delivery of “Fromage,” the hillbilly tune “Bread,” the rather folk-punky “Blackbird Pickin’ at a Squirrel,” and an old school country song titled “Goatheads.” Sole Kitchen was recorded at Monkey Trench Studios in Bremerton, Washington, by none other than well-known punk rocker Mike Herrera (of MxPx and Tumbledown).

It wasn’t all that long ago, only a few months back, that a new acquaintence, a founder and writer at Hearth Music by the name of Devon, pointed me in the direction of the Water Tower Bucket Boys’ music, as I had never heard of them before that. At this point, having listened to the band’s music absorbedly and at length, I am really quite grateful for his assistance in bringing Water Tower Bucket Boys to my attention. That’s what the independent and underground music community is all about, though — artists and music enthusiasts sharing show dates and album releases and the existence of obscure bands and singer/songwriters others may not be aware of. 

Recently I had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing the Water Tower Bucket Boys, who turned out be pretty cool and down-to-earth guys. What follows is the content from that interview in its entirety.

In the interest of providing the readers of this interview with a better understanding of the artist, or in this case artists, how about a little introduction to the members of Water Tower Bucket Boys?

Hello there.

The Water Tower Bucket Boys are…

Josh Rabie – fiddle, guitar, harmonica, and vocals.
Cory Goldman – banjo, guitar, and vocals.
Kenny Feinstein – guitar, mandolin, and vocals.
Gordon Keepers – upright bass. 

What got you interested in roots music enough to write, record and perform your own songs?

The band started out playing traditional music, getting involved in the local bluegrass/old-time scene in Portland, Oregon. However, about three years ago we ran into Gill Landry (of Old Crow Medicine Show) and he basically convinced us that we should start writing our own original music. At the time we were super into traditional music but wanted to take it further. Gill’s ideas seemed like the perfect fit for our band. We still enjoy playing traditional music and will never give it up, but we get the most joy from writing our own songs. Our originals often make use of the same instruments as traditional music (i.e. banjos and fiddles), but then we come together as a group and let the creative energy shape the new sounds. 

Where did the band name Water Tower Bucket Boys come from?

Kenny and Josh have been neighbors for a while, and there is a legendary water tower in the forest behind their houses. This water tower is legendary because we use to go there after school and on the weekends during high school to hang out and do illegal things. We also spent our first late night jam sessions at this water tower in the woods — so we wanted the water tower in our name. The Bucket Boys part is there because our first bass player used a homemade washtub bass. So there you have it! 

It’s probably fair to make the observation that your sound is a pretty balanced combination of old-timey and contemporary music, such as bluegrass, country, independent Americana, folk revival and punk. Is that exactly what you were shooting for when you started out?

It’s hard to say what our intentions were when we started out; however, these past few years our music has really started to take shape and grow almost on its own accord. We like where it’s going, and we will continue to polish our sound until the day we die. We don’t like to think of our music as one genre or another, but more of a genre bending catagory. We love and appreciate all types of music. 

Apparently you fellas have some solid DIY practices and punk ethics in the releasing of your albums and almost everything else you do. What prompted you to self-release your own albums and EP’s, and do all of your own US booking and publicity. Is it important to you that you maintain such practices, or would you like to eventually be picked up by a label and so forth?

Yes, it’s true, we like to keep as much of the buisness as we can in our own hands. We have built this band from the ground up from day one and would like to continue to have full artistic control over our sound. In our early high school years we were all punk rockers at heart, so the DIY attitude came natural for all of us. Kenny and Cory were in a punk band together called Black Cohosh. You may know them by their famous hit “Girls Don’t Poop.” So yes, I think our music is still very inspired by the punk rock ideology. 

Water Tower Bucket Boys recently returned from a European tour. How are the overseas tours in comparison to the US tours? And to make this a two-part question: What have been some of your most memorable touring/gig moments to date, Europe or US?

We absolutely love going overseas to tour! They treat us so well over there, and we feel so welcome, especially by the British and the Irish. We actually don’t tour the US nearly as much as we do the UK. We are going back there again at the end of August 2011, and we hope to tour over there every six months at the very least.

 
Man, looking back, after three full tours, we have had some amazing and memorable moments overseas. One particular memory that comes to mind was during The Open House Festival in Belfast, Ireland, in 2010. It was such an amazing festival and we got to hang out with many of our favorite bands…and we also got to teach the Irish how to make chili. We did a cooking demo for about fifty festival goers, which was absolutely hilarious. We had no idea what the hell we were doing and ended up making some chili with whiskey thrown in for good measure. We were all puking with laughter, it was so ridiculous! It’s important to be able to laugh at yourself and as a band, and I think that is one thing we have mastered.

Your new EP, Where the Crow Don’t Fly, is due out later this month. Seems like it’s following pretty closely on the heels of Sole Kitchen. What can you share about this release?

We are very excited about this new release. It is our fifth record and definitely our most proud one to date. I think you are correct in saying that it follows along the lines of Sole Kitchen but with a few twists. We wanted to branch out for this new record and try out some new things in the studio. The new songs feature instruments we don’t ordinarily use, such as vibraphone, typewriter (played as a percussion instrument on the first track), whirly tube (the cheap plastic toy that you spin around in the air and makes a whirling whistle sound), drum kit, and hand drum.

The EP is the pre-release to our full-length record, which will be coming out in winter of 2012 and will feature a few of the songs from Where the Crow Don’t Fly. We enjoy making albums of all-original music; it satisfies our souls.

Is there anything of note coming up for the Water Tower Bucket Boys…other than the EP, of course?

As mentioned earlier, this EP is a sneak peak of what you will hear at the beginning of 2012. Our next full length release should be out by then, so look out for it.

Lastly, if there’s anything I failed to cover, or if there’s anything you would like to discuss or express, by all means please do so now. The floor is all yours, boys.

Thanks so much for this interview, James. We really appreciate it!

cheers,

Josh and the boyz
—
Water Tower Bucket Boys
“Rippin’ Psychedelic Bluegrass from the heart of the Northwest”