THE CARPENTER ANTS Even after 25 years, The Carpenter Ants still sound like they're having fun. The band's latest release, "Ants & Uncles", keeps the same retro blend of honky tonk, blues, and soul with playful lyrics about everything from "hillbilly moonshine" to trips to Chinatown.
The West Virginia band has certainly made their way around over the years — The Carpenter Ants have had four albums produced by Don Dixon, played a presidential election tour for Jesse Jackson, toured in Moscow twice, appeared on NPR's "Whad'Ya Know?" and "Mountain Stage", opened for the likes of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Paul Thorn, and Gov't Mule and have backed Kevin Coyne on tour. Thanks to band member and manager Michael Lipton, who founded the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and works on "Mountain Stage", "Mountain Stage" guests Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Jimmy LaFave, Solas, Mollie O'Brien, Hayes Carll, Terry Reid, Ben Sollee, Dwight Twilley, The Alternate Routes, Rodney Crowell, Robyn Hitchcock, Taj Mahal, and Luther Allison to jam with the band after the show.
Any band that has been playing for this long definitely has talent, but The Carpenter Ants have also managed to keep their infectious energy. Free. Rodi, Gastonia.