Pearls Before Swine
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Pearls Before Swine

Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States

Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Band Americana Comedy

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Swine and Garlic"

One of the highlights of last weekend's Pocono Garlic Festival was Pearls Before Swine, a self-described "folkabilly" band that combines elements of americana, bluegrass, rockabilly, and jazz. The music was fun and infectious. Beyond that, the musicianship was outstanding, featuring Matt Abell on vocals, with incendiary solos by Jesse Green on keyboards and Mark Woodyatt on violin. Their show-stopping version of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," with searing fiddle solos in place of electric guitar, made the audience howl. Later they played the Men At Work classic "Who Can It Be Now" in typical hillbilly fashion, but then in the middle of the song started playing it as a waltz, drawing out every word. That sense of playfulness continued throughout the entire show, leaving the audience to wonder what would happen next. Don't miss the chance to see this pearl in the Poconos.

-- September 2009 - Musichead


Discography

Pearls Before Swine (2010)

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Bio

Feed your inner swine with the deliciously down-home debut by Matt Abell and His Folkabilly Friends, a motley stew of old-timey Appalachian music, rockabilly, and jazz. Performed with a dash of "Deliverance" and two swigs of moonshine, “Pearls Before Swine” is a concept album, full of tall tales and rock classics reimagined by a foot-stomping juiced-up jugband.

Led by veteran songwriter Matt Abell, the band’s originals range from the mundane to the absurd: there’s “Beg You Back,” about how bachelors keep house; “Whole Lotta Woman,” about Elvis’ insatiable appetite; and “The Runaround,” about an unfortunate accident involving Mexican food, a toilet, and a telephone. Besides the outrageous originals, The Folkabilly Friends have earned a reputation for twisted, warp-speed covers of 70’s and 80’s classics, like Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” and the Styx opus “Mr. Roboto.”

Band members include percussionist/producer Skip Detrick, who plays an odd assortment of found-objects, including scissors, clothespins, broken glass, and 180-grit sandpaper; award-winning jazz pianist Jesse Green; Rick Chamberlain, trombonist with the New York City ballet orchestra; violinist Tim Carbone, of the band Railroad Earth; and many other talented musicians from the greater metropolitan area of New York and Pennsylvania.