OXFORD, Miss. - Although The Mayhem String Band has played together for just the past four years, their second album is getting heavy airplay on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
On Aug. 14 at 9 p.m., the Oxford, Miss.-based bluegrass band will play at Spike's Beach Bar & Grill, Warsaw. The show is part of their first tour up into the Midwest. After the Warsaw gig, they'll play in Berkley, Mich.; South Haven, Mich.; Fort Wayne and Chicago before returning home.
In a telephone interview July 30, band member JT Lack said the band members have made the band their sole occupation in just the past two years.
Along with Lack on banjo, other Mayhem members include Chris Steiner on guitar, Kevin Larkin on mandolin, harmonica and accordion and Ben Johnson on bass. Ferd Moyse played the fiddle on Mayhem's latest record. Though Moyse also plays with another band, Lack said Mayhem hopes to get him in the band full time in the next two months.
Johnson came up with the name for the band, Lack said. In Oxford, there is a sushi bar which serves all the Blue Ribbon you can drink for one price. When Mayhem plays there, and the booze is flowing, it's just mayhem, Lack said.
He also said Mayhem String Band is an acronym for "May All Your Hangovers End Miraculously."
The first album Mayhem put out in spring 2007 was "Rapscallions and Their Ne'er Do Well." Their second one, "Land Pirates," was released in spring 2009.
Lack, the oldest Mayhem member at 31, said the band is definitely classified as a real bluegrass band. Often they get asked to play Allison Kraus or Soggy Bottom Boys bluegrass. But Lack said he doesn't consider that real bluegrass. Kraus and Soggy Bottom Boys are more mainstream.
The music on "Land Pirates" features real, straight-up bluegrass and some cajun and blues influences. They even play some public domain songs from the 1930s, he said.
In high school on Saturday nights, Lack said, they listened to a public radio show called Grassroots, with a blues show that followed.
"It changed my life. Before I knew it, I was trying to play the banjo for six hours a day," Lack said.
All Mayhem members like traditional bluegrass style, including Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers.
"As younger kids, we listened to the Grateful Dead. We later found out they listened to a lot of folk and roots music," Lack said.
Mayhem members also cite Jimmy Martin and Waylon Jennings as influences.
"We're old souls," said Lack of their influences.
The band has played in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Colorado. Lack said they are looking forward to expanding into the Midwest and Indiana.
As for their shows, Lack said people definitely say they are high energy, playing a lot of foot-stomping music. He said they try to get the crowd into their music. It's very danceable as that's what bluegrass used to be, dance music.
"We hope to get them to at least stomp their feet," Lack said."It's not going to be expensive and it's going to be fun," he said of their Aug. 14 performance in Warsaw.
Mayhem String Band's Web site is www.mayhemstringband.com They also can be found on MySpace and Facebook.
