Bawn in the Mash at The End

Sure, they’re from Kentucky—Paducah, to be precise. And sure, they have the aesthetic of a newgrass band—mandolin, fiddle, stand-up bass and loads of chops. But Bawn in the Mash bill themselves as “experimental Americana,” and their latest, Confluence, is just that. While Confluence features the sort of fleet-fingered barnburners you’d expect from a contemporary bluegrass act, the record occasionally explores some uniquely genre-bending territory. “Home” is a Stones-y garage-rock tune with grandiose, homesick vocals and plenty of fuzzy guitar noodling. (Imagine a George Harrison-Lindsey Buckingham mash-up.) The sinister, lethargic arrangement of “Doomsday Delight” makes for a surprisingly dark folk number, and “Icy Faces” is a lilting, playful take on paranoia with scads of free-range wailing. Without overstating it, let’s just say Bawn in the Mash bridge the rarely traversed gap between bluegrass and rock ’n’ roll with the effortlessness of careful students of both. Fellow Kentuckians Arnett Hollow open.
Fri., Aug. 21, 9 p.m., 2009