Some friends and I were listening to a record of Northwest Bluegrass (c.1974) that I picked up from the Brainstains Thrift Shop, and we realized that we love the stuff—and not in some kind of ironic way. The folks in Mighty Ghosts of Heaven figured this out a long time before we did, because they have it down solid. The Mighty Ghosts takes the classic style and insert modern references without being silly (e.g. the Gourds’ cover of “Boyz in the Hood”) and yet they don’t take themselves too seriously. “Hawthorne Gals” is a traditional revenge song told from the perspective of a lady scorned—the gals of Hawthorne Boulevard won’t leave her man alone, so she’s going to kill them. Gangster!!

Download audio file (02 Hawthorne Gals.mp3)

Links:
Mighty Ghosts of Heaven’s MySpace
Brainstains’ MySpace

Photo courtesy Mighy Ghosts’ MySpace. The band is celebrating the release of its self-titled album on Nov. 3 at the Alberta Street Public House.