Magical things can happen when punk and bluegrass meet. Just ask Larry and His Flask. Well, there’s not actually someone named Larry (or a flask) in the band, but you can ask bassist and founding member Jeshua Marshall.
WATCH the video for “Muffled Thrums”
“We try to stay true to a do-it-yourself punk-rock spirit, but we borrow and take from a lot of places,” he says. “It definitely goes beyond a simple punk-rock musical philosophy.”
Following an extended hiatus, the Oregonian troubadours are back in the studio and ready to hit the road on a Western spring tour.
“We try to stay true to a
do-it-yourself punk-rock spirit,
butwe borrow and take from a lot
of places. It definitely goes
beyond a simple punk-rock
musical philosophy.”
– Jeshua Marshall
“We took time off of everything just to kind of decompress and reevaluate our own personal lives,” says Marshall. “We’d pushed it really hard for a number of years. We needed some time and space to get back to being ourselves where we weren’t being so pressured by an intensive touring schedule and never getting to see our family. The time apart was great for everybody and now we’re revitalized and passionate about the band again and ready to get back at it.”
May 25 | 7 p.m.
Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor | Reno, Nev.
Larry and His Flask are currently in the final stages of recording their first full-length album in five years at a friend’s recording studio in Bend, called The Firing Room.
“I think there is some maturity in the lyricism, for sure,” says Marshall of the new material. “We are all older in quite a few ways. Our lead singer in now a father, so his writing is coming from another perspective. I think we’ve grown and had more time to process the band so we can treat it the way we really want to.”
As opposed to past albums, this time around the band wrote most of the material in the studio.
“Usually, we test songs out on the audience first,” says Marshall. “We have yet to play these ones live. I think the studio gives some room for instant feedback in a way. You can try a part and listen to it back instead of writing something in a practice space and playing it live before actually hearing it recorded. This is a cool way to do it, a little bit differently and we hadn’t had that opportunity yet. We don’t know what to expect as far as people’s reactions. We are just making it the best quality we can with truth to ourselves.”
Since their founding in Redmond in 2003, the Marshall Brothers have always relied on a do-it-yourself punk-rock ethic with an instrumentation ranging from banjo and washboard to trombone and baritone horn.
“I think that the punk-rock community is not necessarily one genre of what you would think of as punk-rock music,” says Marshall. “In a lot of ways, it’s people who want to do something out of the mainstream and create art and music that is not necessarily popular or easily accepted. It’s really more of an energy.”
“It was never just one group of people with mohawks,” explains the Baker City native. “To me, it has always been a very diverse group of folks. Our friends are folk signers who put on their own concerts in barns to punk kids in New Mexico or Texas who will set up a space under the bridge with generators and play there. It’s about being part of community where you can relate to people not just on music, but also on a lifestyle of choosing your life for yourself rather than what you feel is the pressure from your family. I’m going to do what is true to me: that’s the punk community that we believe in.”
Those who make it out to the late-night show at Jub Jub’s will be sure to find some high-energy fun times with lots of dancing and singing. Acousta Noir and Boss’ Daughter will be playing, as well. | jubjubsthirstparlor.com
