By Margaret Shergalis

Crowded onto a one-person stage in the back of a smoky bar on Bleecker Street, the six Red Rooster musicians get together twice a month to pick and pluck original bluegrass blues. Tuning out pop culture and West Village street noises, the band turns up what it calls "acoustic Americana." Drawing on each member's experiences of growing up and traveling through this vast country, Red Rooster injects its music with sweet melodies and heartbreaking lyrics, universal to all Americans.

I first heard Red Rooster in the fall of 1999-a year after its inception-when my brother joined the band as "fiddler." They played two short sets at Bagatelle on St. Mark's Place, which included one or two originals, and some Appalachian/country covers. Since then, the group has grown in number, and in talent. No longer a folksy, backwater band, Red Rooster now delivers gutsy and intuitive music. The acoustic guitars and fiddle project the rhythmic sentiment of bluegrass; the dobro and harp infuse it with the soul and power of blues. And, with three vocalists alternating between lead and back-up, and guest appearances on bass, mandolin and sax, the band plays some of the fleshiest music to hit the margin outside of the Austin badlands.

Playing for three hours on average, Red Rooster's set-lists total as many as forty songs and impromptu jams. Blues standards include Crossroads, Stop Breakin' Down, and a fierce dueling-harmonicas rendition of Red Rooster. Other covers include a jazzy version of Feelin' Alright and a bluegrass rendition of Purple Rain. On occasion, you might also hear the one female member (Keith Porteous) belt her crystal lungs on Carey, or sing a guttural duet with Jay Erickson (lead guitar, vocals, harp) on Good Mornin' Lil' Schoolgirl.

Even though the select covers are appropriate and technically well-performed, you should listen for their originals. Varying from serious and reflective (Henry, Independence), to light-hearted (Porch Song), their tunes draw mostly on the universal themes of love (If I Wuzza) and love lost (Linda Lou, On My Mind). A few recordings are available in MP3 format on their website www.redroos.com, but their forthcoming debut album (currently in production with Pacific Street Studios) boasts cleaner tracks of their sixteen originals.

When asked about the band's name, Red Rooster co-founder Erickson recalls a road-trip along New York I-684 in the fall of 1998: "I was driving with Dan Moore, one of the original members of the band, and we were having one of those 'wouldn't-it-be-fun-if-we-were-in-a-band' conversations, and started throwing out names. [Red Rooster] just sounded right and stuck." So, if you are prowling Bleecker Street on July 18th, venture to The Back Fence. Fight your way to the back of the bar. Sit at one of the picnic-blanketed bar tables. Enjoy a dependable mix of original and traditional bluegrass blues, performed by a band that claims to be "bound together by a love of music, performance, and the need to not take ourselves too seriously."

by Margaret Shergalis

Consider This Before Heading Out to See Red Rooster at The Back Fence...

DO NOT WEAR FLIP-FLOPS. This is not a bar rule. But, unless you can figure out a way to unglue your feet from the peanut shell and sawdust-encrusted floor without losing a flop or getting a splinter, wear treads-sneakers or steel-spiked, hardcore hiking boots are suggested.

REQUEST E-MAIL REMINDERS AT WWW.REDROOS.COM. Not only does the band remind you of their upcoming shows, they treat you to some of the wittiest emails you will receive that month:

"Ever feel like you, the good folk of the world, are losing ground to the Asshole Lobby? Like everything is moving so fast that before you're drunk, you're already hung-over? Like every time you try to buy a puppy, you get a potato in a tube sock? Well you and your potato are NOT alone and there IS shelter from the everyday shit-storm.

"You're invited to come take a load off and enjoy an evening with some highly palatable people (many of whom are members of the Good Folk Lobby), good music, and general laid-backedness. Red Rooster will be playing this Sunday... Help us to help you maintain the delicate balance between harmony and bitchery in this world, because the only thing that separates man from the chimps is acoustic blues and folk, and the occasional bluegrass."