BACK TO THEIR ROOTS: This has been a great, if somewhat rough and tumbling, year for Poor Man’s Whiskey, who will play on Saturday, October 24, at 9 p.m at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St.). Now 15 years into their career, the Isla Vista and Bay Area–based bluegrass/jam-rock band is enjoying a “wild ride” of a time, with ups and downs aplenty, says singing, keyboarding, banjoing harmonica man Josh Brough. The year has brought a career highlight in a sold-out performance at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, but also some difficult personnel shifts as parenthood has moved into the picture.
This year also sees the band debuting their newest cover record in their bluegrass-ified rendition of Paul Simon’s Graceland. Poor Man’s Whiskey won worldwide acclaim with Darkside of the Moonshine, an Appalachian take on Pink Floyd’s psychedelic ’70s masterpiece, which they have now performed across the globe, sometimes costumed as characters from The Wizard of Oz — they’re a wild and whimsical bunch, for sure.
Also this year, the band was inspired to lend their freewheeling spirit to Simon’s consummately crafted and joyful work, which Brough called “an iconic album” near and dear to the Whiskey boys’ hearts. He hopes to tour their folky performances of Dark Side and Graceland to the origins of folk music itself, upon the emerald isles of Ireland and England, and hints that one day they make take on a bluegrass Sgt. Pepper. “I think the idea of taking on any type of song that’s ever been written with these acoustic instruments is a challenge, and it’s a fun thing to do,” he said.