Three String Bale is an Americana/roots band that’s been playin’ an original mixture of old-time, country, blues and bluegrass around town for a few years. The three piece is comprised of Sarah Ferrell (bass), Bard Edrington (guitar, banjo, mandolin) and Thomas Studer (slide guitar, harmonica, “redneck cajón”—a homemade percussion box made of sheet metal, kick pedal, washboard, tambourine and skillet). Studer says he’s drawn to Americana because he likes the idea of perpetuating our country’s folk tradition, and that he’s history-obsessed as well. “I despise the crassness of modern life, and like to slip into a bygone era when I strap on the ol’ resonator guitar and start stompin’ my foot,” he says. Three String Bale laid down tracks for its first album at Frogville Records’ studio in Santa Fe in June. On Friday, Oct. 21, the band releases hot on the skin, sweet in the mouth at Marble Brewery (111 Marble NW). The free show starts at 8 p.m. Peer into Studer’s anachronistic, Kiss-laden music library via the five randomly selected tracks below.
Song Roulette
1) "I Don’t Want to Leave You on the Farm" • Ween • 12 Golden Country Greats “Ween. What can you say? I got to meet Mickey and Aaron in New Hope, Pa. (Ween’s home town), where I lived in the early ’90s. They got their start performing at a tiny bar called John & Peter’s on the Delaware River. There’s a famous little record store in New Hope that my friend John used to manage called Now and Then (maybe he still does?). Aaron and Mickey used to come in the record shop and give John cassettes of music they were making at home.”
Song Roulette
2) "Black Diamond" • Kiss • Kiss “This is in my music library because of my ex. To this day she wants to start an all-girl Kiss tribute band. I’ve got every Kiss album there ever was, including the solo crap and reissues and compilations and box sets. It comprises 21.4 hours and 1.54 gigabytes.”
Song Roulette
3) "Worried Blues" • John Fahey • The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites “Awesome slide guitar tune from 1964. Fingerstyle pioneer and legend. Discovered and recorded Leo Kottke. This album was recorded with a borrowed guitar because he didn’t own one good enough to record with.”
Song Roulette
4) "Brick Is Red" • Pixies • Surfer Rosa “The Pixies are one of my all-time favorite bands. I was worried about doing Song Roulette because I have tons of music I don’t listen to or care about and I was stoked that some stuff I actually like came up. Unfortunately, out of all the amazing Pixies tunes, I think this is the ONLY song of theirs that I find completely uninteresting. Drag.”
Song Roulette
5) "Counting the Cross Ties" • Bad Livers • Strawberry Music Festival, Yosemite, Calif., 1996 bootleg “The Bad Livers were an awesome alt. bluegrass band from Austin. Led by Danny Barnes and Mark Rubin, they were pioneers in the field of punkers going traditional. Mark Rubin came through Albuquerque last year with his latest music project, Fat Man & Little Boy: The Atomic Duo.”
