In its second year, Secret Stages can still be an overwhelming festival. With over 80 bands and comedians performing in Birmingham’s Historic Loft District over two days in May, people sometimes have a difficult time choosing which emerging acts to see.
The easy answer is “all of them,” but it’s not practical. The festival has a lineup with enough diversity to satisfy every taste: rock, country and hip-hop acts from every corner of America invade bars and clubs like Matthew’s Bar & Grill, Pale Eddie’s Pour House, Metro Bar, Das House, Rogue Tavern, Steel Urban Lounge, and the Wine Loft. VIP weekend passes are $60, while a general admission weekend pass is $25. Day passes are $15. All passes allow admittance to all bars that are part of the festival. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.secretstages.net.
I have chosen a few artists from different parts of the musical spectrum to highlight. I’ll not be able to touch all of the terrific music that will soundtrack the Magic City on May 11 – 12, but perhaps these pieces can offer some direction.
Black Twig Pickers come to Secret Stages from Blacksburg, Va. The trio serve traditional Appalachian bluegrass music and have Alabama ties. They will take the Wine Loft stage on Saturday, May 12 at 9:30 p.m. I spoke to both Isak Howell and Mike Gangloff about Howell’s Alabama roots, their ascent from newspaper reporters to pickers and the boundaries of traditional bluegrass music.
Blake Ells for Birmingham Box Set: I don’t talk to two guys at once often, so identify yourselves for me.
Isak Howell: I’m Isak.
Mike Gangloff: I’m Mike.
BE: Oh, wow. Those voices are similar. This is going to be tough.
MG: (laughs) But that’s how you differentiate – one of us has an Alabama accent and one doesn’t!
BE: Isak, you’re from Alabama?
IH: Yeah. I’m from Birmingham, but I’ve been in Virginia or West Virginia since 1998. I lived in New Mexico for a little while, but I’ve been pretty close to Roanoke since 1998.
BE: And Mike?
MG: I’m from Kentucky, but I’ve been in Virginia for the past few decades – just across the West Virginia state line.
BE: How long have you been playing together?
IH: Mike and I met each other as reporters at the Roanoke Times, and we were playing shortly after we met – I think around 1999. That fairly quickly became Black Twig Pickers. We’ve been together 13 years, which seems like a long time.
MG: Sometimes in the middle of a show, it seems like a really long time. (laughs)
BE: What can we expect from the live show?
MG: It’s a mix of traditional banjo music from this part of the world. We play a lot of traditional songs, and we drop in some that we have written.
IH: Nathan (Bowles, percussion) is a fine musician. He changed the sound a lot. He plays boards, banjo – he’ll beat sticks on Mike’s fiddle. He’ll play what we call fiddlesticks. It changes up a lot.
BE: But no drums, right? I know that’s a large debate in the bluegrass community.
IH: No drums. It’s our favorite kind of show. All percussion things he plays are quite traditional. I mean, the fiddle isn’t something we made up. It’s not something from rock – it’s very old.
MG: We’re comfortable in tradition. I guess there have been drum kits every now and then, but it’s not what we are.
BE: How far has touring taken you?
IH: We’ve just done England, Scotland, Belgiam – we’ve occasionally been up and down the east coast and the Midwest. We’re hoping to play with our friend Charlie Parr soon – if you guys haven’t had him in Birmingham, you need to get him there soon.
MG: Yeah, he’s an incredible picker, but he’s mostly blues and gospel based. Really great stuff.
BE: Who are the top five American rock bands of all time?
MG: Well, I think Isak will agree we can put Camp Creek Boys in there.
Blake Ells 