Ode Hazelwood

Ode Hazelwood is out to create a new American Music. Well, that's not entirely true — Ode Hazelwood is out to re-­create old American Music for the modern listener. Not content to follow in the same well-worn wagon ruts as the rest of the Americana flock, the Nashville duo of Joseph and Raven Hazelwood looks to the web of influences that informed the American musical zeitgeist prior to the rock and roll era — polka, brass bands, bluegrass and mountain music — and pushes them into modern times. The results sound fresh and worn, brightly colored yet coated with a heavy sepia-toned patina. Resonator mandolins and backwoods banjos layer on top of drum loops, maintaining a style that resides both in the past and very much in the present. If you enjoy the gritty, e­ccentric, nostalgic style of Tom Waits and the musical cues of Beirut, Ode Hazelwood is playing your tune. Likely on a tin whistle.