Live Band Hoedown Saturday nights at Polar Plaza Ice Rink Tacoma

Rhythm and Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown live music series

By Pappi Copperhill on October 26, 2014

Well, hidee, thar, younguns! This here's yer ole Pappi Copperhill. I'll swear, I was borned and brought up high in the Appalachians o' West Virginny. When I was a young'un, muh fambly an' me lived so far back up in them woods they had to pipe sunshine in to us, so I reckon I'm plumb educated about bluegrass. I done follert muh kinfolk out here to Shelton nigh on 10 years ago, but I'm still tolerable good on a devil's box when the notion hits me. Yassir, I know how that mountain music's sposta sound, so lemme jaw atcha 'bout it fer a spell. Nah, set down and be quite, you'ns, so's I ain't obliged to chew muh cabbage twice. Shoot far!

Well, sir, you know how ever' year 'bout this time the Tacoma Art Museum put theyselves up a big ole ice skatin' rink over to Tollefson Plaza? I'm tellin' you it's finer'n a can o' snuff, with all them little 'uns jess skatin' roun' in circles. Shoot, they's prolly ketchin' their death o' colds, but they's grinnin' like a mule eatin' briars. Oh, m'goodness gracious, it's funnier'n when granny caught her tit in the wringer. We al'ays laughed so hard we liked to die. But then some ole boy name o' Ron Swarner got me drunker'n Cootie Hill one night an' talked me into puttin' together a bluegrass show fer the skatin ‘rink. Nah, dudn' that tear you fer a duster? Well, I figger to be good a choice as any, heck far. The Weekly Volcano, an' I'll be dad burn if I even know what'n the Sam Hill that is, calls muh bluegrass and country produkshun "Rhythm & Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown." I jess call it a mess o' B-chord fiddle bands playin' in a tent, but that ain't a-whistlin' Dixie.

'Course, yer prolly a jasper, so you kin call it whatever you want jess suh long as ya don't call me late fer dinner, I'm much obliged to ye. Brang the young'uns, let 'em skate aroun' fer a piece, an' set 'em down dreckly to hear some good ole-fashioned pork chop music. You may not know a doghouse bass from a tater bug, but shulks, you'll know a good 'un with drive when ya hear it. An' if that don' make ya feel pert near countrified yerself, well, it beats the heck outta me.

Rhythm & Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown

Saturday, Nov. 22, 7-9 p.m.: The Cottonwood Cutups

The Cottonwood Cutups were conceived by the many campfire jams held in the Hoh Rain Forest of the Olympic National Park. A mix of influences meld country, old-time, ragtime, punk, bluegrass, rock and jazz to bring about their sound. Website

Saturday, Nov. 29, 7-9 p.m.: SweetKiss Momma

Puyallup band SweetKiss Momma draw from several eras of Southern rock, from the heavy blues of their new Nashville-produced CD A Reckoning Is Coming's title track to the Wilco-ish lilt of "Same Old Stories" and "Laura Rose," the arena-sized stomps and handclaps of "For the Last Time" to the silly organ-led jaunt of "Birthday Cake." Website

Saturday, Dec. 6, 7-9 p.m.: Shotgun Kitchen

An almost too obvious entry point for the kind of satirical Americana of Shotgun Kitchen would be their spiritual forefather, John Prine. Expect stories about white-trash-living and country-road-dying performed with appealingly outlaw country-ish instrumentation and vocals. Facebook

Saturday, Dec. 13, 7-9 p.m.: The Rusty Cleavers

It seems only natural to combine the worlds of bluegrass and punk, and the Rusty Cleavers do so magnificently, with all manner of mandolin, banjo and backyard clatter coming together in a cacophony of spirited group-singing and hoops and hollers. Facebook

Saturday, Dec. 20, 7-9 p.m.: Dixie Highway

In Dixie Highway, the fiddle and banjo dance together to create a sound that harkens the spirit of down home Americana. Whether they are playing a barn dance or a tavern, Dixie Highway will have you on your feet.

Saturday, Dec. 27, 7-9 p.m.: Forest Beutel

Forest Beutel is a fixture of Tacoma's bluegrass scene, playing banjo for Barleywine Revue and punkgrass outfit The Rusty Cleavers. In September, he released If You Label Me, You Negate Me, his first solo album. Facebook

Saturday, Jan. 3, 7-9 p.m.: The Oly Mountain Boys

The Oly Mountain Boys play bluegrass with high-energy drive and a Pacific Northwest bent, mixing traditional tunes with revolutionary original bluegrass compositions. By combining picking prowess with tight three-part vocal harmonies, the band aims to showcase the power and appeal of a truly American musical form. Website