The Gourds

The lyrics from "Burn the Honeysuckle" pretty much define the Gourds: "Married me a girl raised on mustard greens and bear / Chimney brown and lanky smoke all in her hair / Bore me seven babies in ten years time / with skin like tobacco and eyes like wine."

The Gourds ain't pretty, but then again, they ain't exactly trying to be.

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More About

• The Gourds
• Curtis Mayfield
• Zydeco Music
• Sexuality

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The Gourds are as much about an attitude as they are about any actual musical style. The Austin-based group is definitely roots rock, but there's also a nod to the Tex-Mex sound that echoes around them and a hint of the blues and zydeco in there somewhere. A good time band, the Gourds say they are influenced by "Curtis Mayfield songs, Spanish poetry, U.S. currency...various controlled substances, sex, food...Old Testament Bible stories, mud, betrayal and masturbation." They call themselves "quilters," putting together musical scraps into something that might not be perfect or pretty but will sure as hell keep you warm.

Still don't know what they sound like? Ah, that's kinda the point. If you can put it into a sentence, it's too short a description. Just expect something danceable and fun, fiddles, an accordion and a sloppy helping of sass.