close
 

The Devil Makes Three On 'World Cafe: Next'

October 17, 2011

Listen Now

[8 min 11 sec]
 
The Devil Makes Three.
Enlarge Max Blau

The Devil Makes Three.

The Devil Makes Three.
Max Blau

The Devil Makes Three.

Playlist

  • "Tow"
  • "They Call That Religion"
text size A A A
October 17, 2011

While The Devil Makes Three's resonator guitars and herky-jerky gait invite ragtime, country and folk classifications, the enveloping darkness in songs like "Tow" elicits a deeper, early-20th-century backwater vibe. This is true American roots music, combining powerful rhythms with ornate fingerpicking, Dylan-esque storytelling and lyrical scenery.

The band's latest release, Stomp and Smash: Live at the Mystic Theatre, captures the trio at its best: genre-defying, inscrutably alluring and devoid of the need for a drummer to keep time. Frontman Pete Bernhard sings like a crusty Reconstruction-era Civil War vet, tortured by memories from long ago. Hear it for yourself on this installment of World Cafe: Next.

 

More From This Series

Podcast + RSS Feeds

Podcast RSS

  • Music
     
  • Bluegrass/Americana
     
 
 
 

Comments

Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.

 

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

 

About World Cafe

World Cafe presents new and significant music and the artists who create it.

 

NPR thanks our sponsors

Become an NPR Sponsor

Produced By

Based in Philadelphia, WXPN takes listeners on a journey of music discovery through new and heritage rock, blues, roots, and folk artists. WXPN also produces NPR's World Cafe.

WXPN on NPR Music