The Weary Boys

Austin's Weary Boys dress and look like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band circa 1971 and play their instruments like it's 1947. There's little of the sound of Texas to them; in fact, they sound like much less a Texas country band than a Kentucky hillbilly band that happens to call the Lone Star State home. The quintet features fiddle, stand-up bass, a brushed snare and high lonesome tenors from guitarists Mario Matteoli and Darren Hoff. The core of the band hails from Eureka, California, a small port town on the redwood coast near the Oregon border, where the boys first took the stage in a strip joint when Matteoli was all of 15 years old. Since their recent move to Austin, the band has graduated from busking to clubbing to touring. No wonder these Boys are weary.