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Bad Livers formed, quite by accident, sometime around December 1990 when
banjoist/guitarist Barnes started booking himself as the Danny Barnes Trio
around Austin following the demise of the Barnburners, a locally popular
acoustic group. The "trio" was in fact whomever he could get on the phone
in time to make the gig. Through several weeks of natural attrition,
White and Rubin fell into place, originally as accordionist and tuba
player, respectively. The dumbest name possible was chosen and Bad Livers
was born. the emphasis was on good picking and a good time, playing
whatever tunes they felt like, as they heard them. The scent of
admixture, grafting rock and folk influences, at first attracted more
attention than the fact that Bad Livers were up to some pretty good
music. Critics, at a loss to describe the mix of wide ranging styles and
uniformly unfamiliar with the fold tradition, dubbed the sound
"trash-bluegrass" or "bluegrass punk". The band described their sound as
BAD LIVERS music, but added "Call us whatever you like, just don't call us
late for dinner."
Over 2 years of near constant touring has brought the band to 7 countries,
from grimy punk rock dives through acoustic listening rooms to the main
stage of the '93 Edmonton Folk Festival, including opening slots for acts
as diverse as the Butthole Surfers and Ralph Stanley.
Their debut recording Delusions of Banjer was released in October '92
on the Quarterstick subsidiary of Touch & GO Records. "Delusions..."
highlights Barnes' strong material as well as their road honed
instrumental dexterity. "Horses In The Mines" is the Bad Livers' third
recording for Quarterstick. It was recorded with the intention of
reproducing a "live" sound - like they were set up in your living room or
local hostelry, pickin'. To achieve this aim the album was recorded in a
wood shed, chosen for its' acoustic properties, on an eight track analog
recorder. Some ex-Soviet mics were loaned by Steve Albini and Paul Leary
chipped in with some vintage tube microphone pre-amps. No outboard
effects or for that matter, mixing board were used in the recording!
BAD LIVERS
Danny Barnes - vocals, banjo, guitar
Mark Rubin - upright bass, tuba
Ralph White - fiddle, accordion
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