Porter Hall, TN – Welcome To Porter Hall, Tennessee
Don’t look for Porter Hall, TN, on a map. The town exists only in the minds, melodies and lyrics of this five-piece band from Murfreesboro, the transplanted offshoot of Maryland punk band Porter Hall. The core duo of Molly Conley and Gary Roadarmel added the TN after moving from MD, ostensibly to go to college; they took up acoustic music and bluegrass instead.
The sound on their debut CD combines the traditions of rhythm-driven honky-tonk with acoustic Appalachian flavorings, in the process sounding vintage and original at the same time. There’s a lot of whiskey-flavored venom in the lyrics, offset largely by Conley’s sweet voice on the ballads.
Conley and Roadarmel wrote all but three of the numbers, and while his own material is fine, Roadarmel is an enthusiastic interpreter. Gene Wilcox’s “Golden Chain Of Hate” and Randy Jones’ “Screwed Blue” are among the highlights, with bounce amid the bile.
The instrumentation is direct and simple, with Jason Sligh’s mandolin sprinkled around for flavoring. Guest player Mike Fried provides worthy pedal steel flourishes throughout and a nifty baritone guitar break on “Old Kentucky Home”. Bassist Ruth Marie and percussionist Kenny Griffin keep the beat appropriately two-step and shuffle.