The Milwaukee band that fused fast, aggressive bluegrass with punk and outlaw-country attitude, pioneering the underground "streetgrass" sound in a short, influential run.
The Short Version
Who Were They?
The .357 String Band were a Milwaukee band, active from around 2004 to 2011, who took bluegrass instruments, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and upright bass, and played them faster, harder, and darker than almost anyone, fusing them with the energy of punk rock and the storytelling of outlaw country. They helped pioneer an underground sound sometimes called streetgrass or punk-grass.
Marcel cites them as a prime example of the punk-grass corner of alternative grass, where roots instruments meet the punk scene. Their run was short and their catalog small, but their influence on the gritty, underground string-band world was enormous, and the members scattered to a web of influential projects.
Bluegrass instruments, aimed at the punk scene.Fast, Loud, and Gone Too Soon
The Story
Their story is brief and intense, a band that burned hard and left a deep mark on an underground scene.
Milwaukee, the unlikely home of streetgrass.
2004
Formed in Milwaukee
The band came together in Wisconsin, bringing a punk sensibility to hard, fast bluegrass instrumentation.
2006
Ghost Town
Their debut announced a raw, aggressive new sound rooted in traditional instruments.
2008
Fire & Hail
The follow-up deepened their dark, driving take on string-band music.
2010
Lightning from the North
Their final album, widely considered their strongest, cemented their underground reputation.
2011
The split
The band broke up, and its members went on to a web of projects that carried the sound forward.
Three Recordings, One Introduction
Start Here
These three are the fastest way to hear the band: the signature, the anthem, and the high-lonesome burner.
01 · The Signature
"Lightning from the North"
The title track of their best album, fast and fierce, the whole streetgrass idea in one song. Start here.
02 · The Anthem
"Raise the Moon"
A beloved anthem of the scene, later carried on by the members' other bands.
03 · The Burner
"High Lonesome Blues"
A driving showcase of the band's hard, dark take on bluegrass.
The Catalog
The Essential Records where to start
The band made three albums in a short run; these two capture the sound. Their finale, Lightning from the North, is well worth seeking out too.
2006
Ghost Town
The raw, aggressive debut that launched the streetgrass sound. Start here.
The .357 String Band took the punk-grass idea to its limit. Where Old Crow Medicine Show brought old-time music punk energy and the Devil Makes Three brought folk and blues a rowdy swagger, the .357 String Band went harder and darker, playing bluegrass instruments at hardcore speeds with lyrics full of trains, whiskey, violence, and ghosts. They came out of the punk and underground scene rather than the festival circuit, and their audience was as likely to be in a basement venue as a folk club. The name they and their peers gave it, streetgrass, fits.
What kept it from being a gimmick was genuine chops and genuine songs. These were real pickers who could play fast and clean, and Derek Dunn and Joe Huber wrote songs with the dark storytelling weight of the best outlaw country. The result was a sound that hit the punk crowd like a freight train while still being recognizably rooted in Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. It is exactly the "attitude and presentation" end of the spectrum Marcel describes.
Though the band lasted only a few years, its influence on the underground string-band and "gothic country" scene was huge. When they split in 2011, the members fanned out: Joe Huber built a solo career, Jayke Orvis led the Broken Band and played with the Goddamn Gallows, and the streetgrass sound they helped codify lived on in a whole network of bands. For a small band from Milwaukee, they left a surprisingly deep mark.
The basement venues where streetgrass was born.The Roots of the Sound
Influences
The band fused hard traditional bluegrass with outlaw country and the punk scene. These are the sources.
Father of Bluegrass
Bill Monroe
The high-lonesome drive and repertoire underneath all the speed and fury.
The .357 String Band are a cornerstone of the underground streetgrass scene.
The Devil Makes Three: the fellow folk-punk band of the same world. See the guide.
Old Crow Medicine Show: the rowdy old-time revival running parallel. See the guide.
The Stanley Brothers: the dark traditional bluegrass at the root. See the guide.
Johnny Cash: the outlaw storytelling they carry on. See the guide.
Joe Huber, Jayke Orvis, and the Goddamn Gallows: the members' later bands, where streetgrass lived on.
The Way to Listen
Put on "Lightning from the North" and hold on. This is bluegrass instruments played with the speed and aggression of hardcore, and the thrill is in how fast and clean they keep it.
