Don't let the gritty name fool you: Captain Gravel might sound like a company that sends out trucks to follow the snowplows and make highways safe for commuters, but the moniker really belongs to one of Seattle's smoothest string bands, who are appearing at Conor Byrne on Friday, November 24.
The quintet's lineup features mandolin, upright bass, banjo, guitar, and fiddle. No drums, but they certainly don't want for rhythmic pep. Bassist Ingrid Eyen and guitarist Chad Gibson share lead vocal chores, while at other intervals everyone clusters around a single vintage microphone and croons in close harmony. "We have great practice sessions sitting around [fiddle player] Michael Connolly's old-school Hammond organ, working on vocal parts," says Gibson.
That team spirit carries over into other aspects of performance practice. On most of the 11 tracks of their new CD, Mountain Lair, everyone takes a turn in the spotlight. One moment, focus might be on mandolin player Miller McNay, then 16 bars later the baton is passed and Binkle Roberts puts a completely different twist on the same melodic idea with his quick-fingered banjo picking.
Good-natured humor permeates their sound, too. "The Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me" catalogs a litany of tongue-in-cheek disappointments, from being left out of a will to forgetting to pack a bathing suit. On "Downtown," Eyen kicks up her heels in a big city where grizzly bears belly up to the bar. And "Mean Son of a Gun," featuring a protagonist who shaves with a discarded tin can, is a ridiculously hot-blooded ditty about a cool killer.
"For the album, we really wanted to let our individuality through," says Gibson. "We consider ourselves as having a distinctive voice amidst the other bluegrass, old-time, and string bands."
Captain Gravel aren't exactly modern-day mavericks à la young bucks like Nickel Creek and Old Crow Medicine Show, but they sure as hell aren't your granddad's bluegrass band, either. "There is a ton of contrast in our group," continues Gibson. "We're from across the world and all our backgrounds are quite unique." Binkle originally hails from Manchester, England, and is an accomplished player of the highland bagpipes; recently, he traveled his way across Croatia, playing Hawaiian music on street corners.
Connolly, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, plays over a dozen instruments besides fiddle. Gibson is originally a rock guitarist from the Chicago region. "And I don't even know how Ingrid first found the bass," he confesses. "But she's played in family, folk, and psychedelic rock bands all over the country."
This curious overlap of influences and experiences also informs their sense of style, which recalls an Eisenhower-era department-store ad. "We love our vintage suits," concludes Gibson. "We may not be a traditional bluegrass band, but there are aspects of that tradition we have a ton of respect for. Bill Monroe used to demand that his band always look professional. Our take on it is to maintain a sharp-dressed stage appearance, while putting our own unique spin on the music."
