With six members and eight instruments in tow, Holy Ghost Tent Revival needs to spread out on stage a little. Not that they get the chance very often. The Greensboro, N.C.-based band – which describes its musical mélange as “art, entertainment and recreation” – is always on tour these days, performing at East Coast bars or Southern clubs. Hardly any of them big enough, of course.
The band played the Stillwater Tap Room in Augusta, Ga., not too long ago. They were excited, having heard about all the bands that had played the club in the past. But after walking through the bar – and even checking out the second floor – they still couldn’t find the stage.
“We asked the bartender,” banjo player Stephen Murray says. “And she pointed to this little cubby that looked like you could maybe put a few boxes there or store a couple of tables. We run into stuff like that a lot, where you’re asked to do the impossible. But that just adds to the show.”
They ended up stacking themselves – four of them standing two deep, a keyboard on the floor in front and a drummer way in the back.
“Honestly, the challenge is exciting,” Murray says. “You have a choice whether to bitch about it or put on a good show.”
Now, back to that description of their music. Art, entertainment and recreation? The band – Murray, bassist Patrick Leslie, guitarist Matt Martin, brass player Hank Widmer, drummer Ross Montsinger and keyboardist and accordion player Mike O’Malley – has been together for three years now, and they still argue about what genre of music they play, Murray says.
“We don’t mean to be vague,” Murray says. “We just have a hard time identifying ourselves. This just seemed better than canned terms like ‘energetic folkgrass’ or ‘sprinkly muffin time’ or something.”
The band has been known to fuse ragtime with older country music influences, melodic Beatles-inspired instrumentation and technically interesting hat tips to bands such as Rush.
“Then again, all of that may just sound like one of our songs,” Murray says. “The next song could be something totally different. The music comes from a lot of experience.”
Lyrically, the band’s music is easier to define, Murray says.
“The songwriting stems from an honest part of your life,” he says. “From a storytelling place, a poetic place, an introspective place.”
The subjects of the band’s songs have a wide range, too. Songs such as “Hammer Fell” are epic stories. The kind where the devil chases you, trying to catch your soul. Others might have a total of only 12 words in them – the “get over your luck; get over your love” variety – and instead focus on hooks and catchy melodies.
“They can be surreal or very simple,” Murray says. “But they’re all honest.”
The band just released “Family,” an EP that is available on CD, in a digital format and, surprisingly, vinyl. The reason behind going retro? Partly nostalgia, Murray says.
“We feel like vinyl is coming back,” he says. “Some of our favorite bands are putting out 7-inches on vinyl and more of our friends have their parents’ old record players. But it’s also nostalgic. The first time I heard the album on vinyl, there was this weird, old-timey audio effect. It felt like putting on an old Woody Guthrie album.”
