We have come to know Bark, Hide and Horn for their dynamic songwriting, where on any given track we can expect a thoughtful but relentless flow of instrumentation and dialogue that constructs an all-together mellow drama of possibility for disaster and triumph. One might even say that Bark, Hide and Horn is the Queen (yes, the Freddie Mercury kind) of folk music, with the former’s tendency to indulge in an epic style of songwriting that shamelessly services the drama queen in each of us. It’s great to hear lead singer and guitarist Andy Furgeson fearlessly howl over guitars, horns, drums, strings and whatever other noises might challenge him in any given crescendo of instrumentation, but don’t be surprised to hear him mellow out, either.

Queen isn’t BH&H’s only influence; “Treasures of the Everglades” relaxes into a more traditional folk structure of songwriting that resembles the sincerity of Hank Williams or Johnny Cash. Furgeson’s vocal contribution is polite, the sound of his guitar is mellow and his lyrics are traditionally thoughtful without being typical or tired. Furgeson’s band contributes a standard country drumbeat and, better yet, casual use of the trumpet.

Furgeson asks, “Would you let me be your mate, darlin’?” My answer is yes.

Download audio file (treasure.mp3)

Link:
Bark, Hide and Horn on myspace

Photo courtesy of BH&H’s myspace page.