Just got the news that St. Louis based old-timey troubadour Pokey Lafarge will have a 45″ released on Jack White’s enigmatic Third Man Records. If you haven’t heard Pokey’s neo-hobo jugtime ragband music, you need to give it a listen. He sounds like he tumbled out of an old dusty record player in a black & white Mickey Mouse cartoon, and he dresses like a 1930s pimp. He also has the best facial expressions of any performer I know, and can deafen a room with his uncommonly loud voice. He writes songs in an old-timey vein, but brings in the same kind of backalley attitude that made so many of the old 78s into modern classics. In short, Pokey kicks ass, and with his band, The South City Three, they are easily the best roots music band on the circuit. With a critically acclaimed set at the Newport Folk Festival and a high-profile signing to Jack White’s label, Pokey Lafarge & The South City Three are on the rise. Now you can say you knew them when…
For the Third Man Records 45″ (it’s part of their Blue Series 45s), Pokey Lafarge & The South City Three will cover the folkie tongue-twister “Chitlin’ Cookin’ Time in Cheatham County” and a new original from Pokey’s pen, “Pack It Up”. I heard him play Pack It Up in Memphis a few days ago and can attest that it’s a real burner!
PS: You know Jack White loves folk music, right? Not only did he get his inner folkie on for the soundtrack to the film “Cold Mountain”, recording with Appalachian musicians, but the White Stripes used to always include a couple country blues covers. Like “Death Letter” from the great Son House.
NOTE: This post appeared first in American Standard Time, a killer new blog.
