Enigma article

Creech Holler Men of Constant Sorrow Creech Holler is known for playing gothic country reminiscent of late night front porch sessions, sitting in creaky rocking chairs, drinking moonshine and singing about the devil and church. From the time you start playing their CD, With Signs Following, you feel catapulted straight into a scene of "Deliverance". There's an eeriness merging with an ethereal quality that is both terrifying and mystifying. The trio, composed of Jeff Zentner (Bottleneck and Clawhammer Electric Guitar, Vocals), Joseph Campbell (Electric Bass, Vocals), and Christian Brooks on drums and tambourine, have also been involved with or are currently involved with The Katies, Parchman Farm, Porter Hall Tennessee, The Turncoats, and SJ and the Props. Guitarist Jeff Zentner took some time out to answer these hard-hitting questions:1. How did Creech Holler come to be? How did you guys decide on each other as members, this type of music, band name, etc.?"Creech" is the name of our bass player's family, who are from the hills outside of Kingsport, Tennessee. I probably don't need to explain what a "Holler" is like we would if we were doing an interview for some paper in New York City. Christian and Jeff met at a Black Diamond Heavies show (a name Chattanoogans might recognize) that Jeff was opening for as a solo act. We started music and realized we had a lot in common. We brought Joey on board later to fill out the sound. Joey and Christian were already acquainted from the Murfreesboro music scene.As for how we decided on this type of music, we didn't have much choice. It's what we knew how to play. It's music that's in our blood. We've never really made many formal decisions in that regard. There was never a point where being an experimental free jazz band was an option available to us, even if we were so inclined.2. How would you describe With Signs Following? What's the inspiration behind it?Dark. Raw. The inspiration for this album is the South, specifically the Southern Appalachian mountains, and even more specifically, the blood and religion of the Southern Appalachian mountains is the inspiration for With Signs Following. We try to pay tribute to musicians like Dock Boggs and Hobart Smith while carrying the Appalachian musical tradition forward.3. Fried chicken or fried catfish?Yes. And if you have some cornbread, we'll take some of that too.4. Where do you see yourselves in a year? Five? Ten, fifty?Making music. Making music. Making music. Dead.5. If you could go on tour with one band, who would it be?We'd probably reach a lot of appreciative fans by touring with Hank III. We seem to attract a lot of 16 Horsepower fans. If they were still around, that'd probably be a good opportunity for us as well.6. In 30 seconds, name the top 5 albums of all time.Now see, this isn't a fair question because too many of our favorite artists like Hobart Smith didn't really put out albums in the way that most people think of albums. How about the top 5 musicians of all time? Hobart Smith. Dock Boggs. Hank Williams. Charley Patton. Blind Willie Johnson.7. Do you use the usual themes in your songs: religion, politics, girls, etc.? Are you geared toward meaning or nonsense?There are some recurring themes in our music. God. Death. Murder. Life. Hard life. We are very much geared toward meaning, because the influences we draw from used music to make meaning of the world in which they lived. To pass that meaning down from generation to generation. We're not into nonsensical lyrics and songs.8. Tornadoes. Romantic, or horrific?Romantic and horrific. The way most good things are.Creech Holler will be performing at The Local with Bathtub Gin on March 30 at 9:00 p.m. http://www.myspace.com/creechholler- Jessica WallinENIGMA, Chattanooga TN