Photos: Tammie Birdwell

On Saturday, April 15th, Greg Bell of Guthrie Bell Productions did it again — brought the heat to downtown Albany, NY. Mystik Fool opened for Dirtwire and both acts were wholly unlike anything I had ever seen. Most acts that attempt to cross genre boundaries don’t usually pull it off that well. Most acts still end up sounding like someone else. However, the music that the guests of The Hollow got to enjoy last night broke every boundary in the best possible way.

Mystik Fool

Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Mystik Fool opened things up. Don’t let the name fool you, Mystik Fool is made up of only one human — though if you closed your eyes you wouldn’t believe that. Using a looper and some very interesting instruments, Mystik Fool made it sound like there was a stage full of musicians and he made it look easy. If you missed last night’s show — check out his music on his website or catch him again at one of the final stages of his tour with Dirtwire.

Dirtwire

There are only two members of Dirtwire — and the number of instruments on that stage outnumbered them by about five to one. Even though I have attended hundreds of shows, there were instruments on that stage I had never seen before, let alone heard played in such a way. Dirtwire calls the genre they created “swamptronica,” and frankly I think that sums things up perfectly. They somehow mixed Americana and bluegrass with drum-and-bass and dubstep and it not only works but it absolutely slaps. Check out this band immediately if you have missed out so far.

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