For Your Consideration....The Onion Creek Crawdaddies (Or How I Became A Fan)

A couple of months ago my wife sampled some of the tracks from the Onion Creek Crawdaddies newest record, Irons In The Fire, at Waterloo Records. She was sufficiently impressed to buy the record. I listened to it a few times and could have taken it or left it. It didn't grab me.

Fast forward two months to July when we caught the Crawdaddies at the Dive on 5th (near Whole Foods). Again, I wasn't really blown away but the show was entertaining, the beer was cold and the weather hotter than hell. Their instrumentation & arrangements were really fantastic as were their vocals but overall the show didn't grab me at the time.

Fast forward a few weeks when I got around to listening to the recording of that show from the Dive. I must've been watching a different show because the show I heard on the recording really blew me away. I mean really. Could this have been the same show my wife and I stood there and listened to? Possibly, especially given the proclivity of d-bags who were all around us chatting in a manner that more resembled yelling over the band.


We went to see the Crawdaddies again in August at the Mean Eyed Cat. I was able to pay a lot more attention to the show this time around and really enjoyed myself again. After the show, I bought their first record, Barn Burners & Bathtub Bourbon. This cd hasn't strayed from my truck's cd player yet. I love it. There's not a weak spot on the whole record.

I am awful at band comparisons mostly because I think that there's always some huge gap and something missing from said comparison. However, I'll give it a shot here but only as long as you understand that these guys are unique unto themselves and deserve a listen. If you like the instrumentation and musicianship of the Gourds absent Jimmy Smith's and Kev Russell's straight-outta-left-field lyrics and you like the harmonies of the South Austin Jug Band with a touch of Splitlip Rayfield, these guys are for you.

The moral to this story is that sometimes liking a band isn't immediate even if it should be. Sometimes it takes going to multiple shows, buying multiple records and listening to the shows again. It's what I do.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the guys in the band. Very friendly lot...
Ryan Hunter Banjo, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Brian Reed Harmonica, Drums, Vocals
Brink Melton Bass, Vocals
Jay Harward Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Trent Shepherd Mandolin, Fiddle, Vocals

Get out there and support these guys. Buy a record. Go to a show.