Philadelphia-based jam band brings tour to D.C.’s Black Cat
These United States, Hoots & Hellmouth, Junior League Band
Where: Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW, Washington
When: 9 p.m. Aug. 29
Details: $10 advance, $12 date of show; ticketmaster.com
When Hoots & Hellmouth couldn’t find time in its tour schedule to record a sophomore album, the band used the road to its advantage.
Think of “The Holy Open Secret” — the group’s just-released sophomore album — as a best-of live sampling from the Philadelphia-area band.
“We wanted [this record] to preserve that energy and hallmark,” said lead songwriter Sean Hoots. “There wasn’t a particular theme other than what we had been playing live. … We wanted to show what we had become.”
That is basically a band that plays some hands-beating-on-the-dashboard folk/alt-country/rock songs with plenty of impromptu kicks built into them. Shouts, handclaps and even an occasional harmonica punctuate the sound. There’s even percussion on this album, which is unusual. The band generally doesn’t tour with a drummer, preferring instead to use stomp boards and hand percussion.
The reason, Hoots said, is when he and college friend Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray formed as a duo in 2005, they built their sound primarily around acoustic numbers that didn’t lend themselves to overt percussion. As the band has grown, a bit more percussion has crept into the sound, but not much.
After adding Rob Berliner and John Branigan, the group released its self-titled album in 2007. Though the disc won awards and kudos, Hoots said it had more of a “studio” sound than the group members had wanted.
“At that point, we were still figuring out who we were as a band,” Hoots said. “We were still searching some American roots styling and exploring our muses. For that record, we threw a bunch of things on the wall to see what would stick.”
But as the band toured almost nonstop behind the debut album, a familiarity — and true signature sound — formed.
“There’s a real sense of being in the middle of it, having it happen around you,” Hoots said of his role in the album, which could also apply to listeners’ experience. “This album is more of an experience — at least that’s how people are responding to it. There are elements of reckless abandon that sort of sets it apart.”
That abandon grows during the live stage shows specifically when audience members dance, clap and show they’re into the music.
“Songwise we aren’t like a jam band; we aren’t improvising all over the place,” Hoots said. “But the audiences and venue [have] as much to do with the shows as we do. … We play as wholeheartedly to an empty room as we do to a packed house, but everything effects how the music comes across.”
