Clawhammer’s ‘Della’ is your Westport Roots Festival song of the day

The inaugural Westport Roots Fest, centered around the Westport Saloon and taking place on Saturday, May 24, is approaching fast. To prepare for the pending roots romp presented by the good folks at Little Class Records, The Pitch will be highlighting a “song of the day” from one of the featured artists in the weeks leading up to fest. 

Alternatively calling themselves “dancegrass” and “old-time dub-funk,” Springfield’s Clawhammer – named for a particular banjo picking style that the band employs – is hard to pin down. On one hand, there’s reeling ragtime elements, sounds from a musical era that is a hundred years old or more. On the other, there’s injections of modernity with looping pedals and live samples. And then there’s the harmonizing vocals of Chelsea Childress and Lisa Wilson, delicate and ethereal – like mermaids plucked from the ocean and dropped squarely into a woodland. The sound works, though, and you’ll be able to hear more of it on the band’s upcoming record, out Saturday, May 24, on Little Class Records. 

For more information on the Westport Roots Festival, to view the full lineup and to purchase tickets, go here. 

See also:

#15: The Whistle Pigs’ “Alcohol”
#14: The Calamity Cubes’ “Gold Light”
#13: County Graves’ “We All Die Alone”
#12: AJ Gaither OMB’s “Ain’t Enough Whiskey”
#11: Billy Beale’s “Kansas City Hear I Come” 
#10: Twenty Thousand Strongmen’s “Hand Me Downs”
#9: Cadillac Flambé’s “Long Black Porch”