Santa Cruz folk punks who turned banjo, washboard and washtub bass into anarchist protest songs, then called their 2015 record the most ambitious folk punk album ever made.
MOODS · frenetic · anarchist · rustic · raw · politically charged
BIOGRAPHY
Blackbird Raum formed in 2004 in Santa Cruz, California, started by banjoist CPN and accordionist Zack while living in UCSC housing. The lineup was loose at first, playing gigs and busking with whoever was around, before settling with K.C. on washboard, David on washtub bass, and Mars on musical saw and mandolin.
Their sound spans anarcho-punk, acoustic folk punk, blues, traditional folk, and ragtime. Albums include Raum Demo (2005), Purse-Seine (2007), Swidden (2008), Under the Starling Host (2009), False Weavers (2013), and Destroying (2015), the last recorded at San Francisco's Tiny Telephone with engineer Jay Pellici and made in collaboration with Dublin's Lynched.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Blackbird Raum built a reputation on frantic, uncompromising live shows and lyrics steeped in anarchist politics, taking aim at consumerism and environmental destruction. Their 2015 album Destroying, a collaborative effort with Irish folk band Lynched, was hailed by reviewers as feeling bigger and more ambitious than anything the band had done before, with one review calling it the most ambitious folk punk record in history. Touring Europe, the continental US, and Alaska, the band carried a scrappy, string-band folk punk approach far beyond its Santa Cruz origins.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
George has played this artist 2 times.
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