When Jack White chooses Nashville, the home of country music, as the place to set up his Third Man record label, you can be assured that country music is going through something of a pop renaissance.
And it is a love of country from the plaintive songs of Hank Williams to the moody country-tinged tunes of Nick Cave that sits at the heart of Howdee, the country revue created in 2010 by Dundee musicians Caragh McKay and Ged Grimes.
Inspired by a conversation they had about Elvis Presley’s early country roots, Caragh and Ged came up with the idea of celebrating the Great American Country Songbook the blue-collar equivalent of the Great American Songbook.
And so Howdee, a country music revue, featuring a changing line-up of acts, was born.
The idea was to get together all the musicians they had worked with, who they knew loved that style of music but didn’t often get the chance to play it.
People like guitarist Gregor Philp, guitar and pedal steel wizard Chris Marra, elder statesmen like Gus Foy and Joe McKay (Caragh’s dad), alongside 17-year-old Alex Hines.
Rather than stick to a rigid chronological walk through country music, however, Howdee uses the essence of country great storytelling, strong voices, and traditional instruments such as steel guitar and banjo as a starting point.
Howdee made its first outing in Dundee in August with an invite-only show at Braes Below, where they “deliberately steered away from playing country greats and created a set that includes songs written hundreds of years ago to some that have been written in the past couple of years,” says Caragh.
“We’ve also chosen some tunes that are not, strictly speaking, country, but that we felt had the potential to slip into that genre. It’s this approach that we think gives Howdee such a fresh sound.”
Indeed, when Caragh’s friend, the video director Paul Gore (who has made videos for Paolo Nutini, Amy Winehouse, Massive Attack and The Noisettes among others), was looking for a piece of traditional music for a video he was making for the fashion label ASOS Black, Caragh suggested Black Jack Davy, a darkly atmospheric a capella song that was in the Howdee set.
It was written in Scotland around the 1740s, and has been recorded by a variety of artists, including The White Stripes.’Ageless’ musicThe ASOS message boards were buzzing with people asking what the song was and the video has had thousands of hits on YouTube.
Another unique aspect is that Howdee is made up of generations of musicians, with band members ranging in age from 17 to 70.
“The brilliant thing about country music is that it’s, quite literally, ageless, because it comes from that folk tradition of passing poems and songs down through generations. Think of Johnny Cash, for instance he and his music is revered by generations of fans.
“But then you can take almost any country song from any era and turn it into something fresh and new. You can even change the words if it seems right, and not feel as though you are doing something wrong,” says Caragh.
Ged and Caragh believe that Howdee will grow in its own way, and hope that other musicians will want to come and take part in future shows.
“In essence, Howdee is a musical celebration,” says Caragh, “So the idea of other bands or musicians joining in and putting their own spin on country makes sense. It’s about just enjoying great music and opening audiences up to country in a way that they might never have thought of.
“It’s basically country music that people don’t know, doing country in a different way, not just doing a bank of covers, we didn’t want to do that, the idea was to bring all these old country numbers back, although not strictly all old numbers.
“We’ve got some good ideas for songs and also bringing different formats into the band, different instruments like upright bass and banjo… more a collective rather than a band, whatever we think is interesting.
Ged said, “We’ll also be mixing up the generations with Joe (McKay, Caragh’s dad), who’s 70, joining in on a few songs as well I’ve always loved what he’s done, he’s a total tour de force in Dundee.
“There’s Gus Foy as well, and at the other end of the scale is Alex Hines who’s only 17, it keeps it different.”
Howdee comes to Duke’s Corner on Saturday night, a show that came about after the venue heard about their successful unannounced gig and immediately offered them a slot, Caragh added.
“I think it was brilliant that we did a gig and immediately got asked to do another one that’s what’s good about it, it’ll grow organically.”
Howdee play Duke’s Corner on Saturday. Entry is free from 8pm.
Ged says, “It might be different another time we do it, although it’s not a jam, that’s not what it is, we want it to be a performance.
“There’s no pressure to write the music, just create a style, it’s stuff that’s already there.
“The idea of doing rare covers is something that we wanted to do, not covers that people will know, that’s not very creative.”
Caragh adds, “People ask what this one was and what that one was, that’s what makes it a really creative project.”
Ged says, “There’s stuff they’ve played to me in rehearsal I’ve never heard, it’s all about the players bringing their own stuff to the party.
“So it’s not just like playing a song, we’re totally able to adapt the songs, it’s a bit richer than a band just playing a tune. It’s a showcase for Caragh’s voice and for this rag tag bunch of top-quality guys it’s a joy to respond to her and for her to respond to us.
“It’s also another indication of Dundee’s musicians and culture they’re right up for it, giving their time and talent and showing what they can do. There was no issue over it, we asked and they were there.
“What I love about it is it’s some of the darker side of country. Most of the time you never really get the opportunity to darken up things.”
Caragh added, “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve every done in my life, this just feels right, totally right. It’s a clich to say we’re just having fun but we are. Country is at the heart of it, but there’s not a sense of saying it’s got to be this or it’s got to be that.
“People have a really bad idea of what country music is, but if you scratch below the surface there’s all different kinds of stuff.
“This is totally new, totally fresh, and we’ve no idea where it’s going.”
Ged added, “We’re getting the right people involved Gregor and Chris, they can adapt and play anything.
“It’s all about respect for the songs and it’s great to draw on things like pedal steel and upright bass, everybody sings and it’s a great platform for Caragh and what she does best.”