CD Review: Packway Handle Band — What Are We Gonna Do Now?

Packway Handle Band

What Are We Gonna Do Now?

Self-released

By Scott Roberts

You have to admire the tenacity of Athens’ Packway Handle Band. For nearly 10 years, this hard-working quintet has been one of the only purveyors of traditional (well, mostly traditional) bluegrass music in a town known more for its art- and dance-rock, and on their fourth full-length CD, What Are We Gonna Do Now?, the band answers the album’s titular query by continuing to do what they’ve been doing throughout the past decade — keep playing enjoyable, acoustically-rich music that has a sense of humor and a subtle depth with no regard to trends or fickle audiences.

“I’m a walking disaster/I’m an accident to stop waiting to happen,” confesses mandolinist/vocalist Michael Paynter in the opening line of the catchy opening song “Walking Disaster,” and it is a perfect example of the band’s sly sense of humor. Joining Paynter in the humor department is fiddler/singer Andrew Heaton (one of the band’s three songwriters along with guitarist Josh Erwin) who contributes the ready-made audience sing-along “What Is A Packway Handle?” a question that seems to elude Heaton himself. But with its rousing call and response refrain (“What—WHAT?—is a packway handle?”), listener and author have so much fun that they both realize the answer isn’t really too important. This song also displays a bit of the band’s non-bluegrass influences with Heaton recalling Lou Reed in his sing-talk vocal approach. There might also be a bit of Velvet Underground’s influence (specifically the song “Oh, Sweet Nuthin’”) on the plaintive “Outskirts,” and the opening chords of “Off My Knees” borrow heavily from The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” before veering into something more uniquely Packway’s.

While the band doesn’t have one particular hotshot instrumentalist, all five members, including banjoist Tom Baker and bassist Zach McCoy, are above average players who have ample opportunity to shine, especially on the jaunty instrumental (another bluegrass tradition) “Horse Vs. Technology,” an Erwin composition that is the clear-cut winner for “Best Title” and possibly the standout track on this well-produced effort. After one listen to What Are We Gonna Do Now?, the answer is in the music.