The Crunchy Western Boys

Crunchy Western Boys: Featured in-studio guest of the 'Folk Show' on NHPR - New Hampshire Public Radio

The Crunchy Western Boys started off the day, sending a nice, relaxing groove through the crowd. You know the music is good when members of the crew start dancing and that is exactly what happened when the Boys’ stepped up to the mikes.
- By: Josh Baker

When you talk to Steve McBrian, you immediately sense how much fun he has playing in the Crunchy Western Boys band. He laughs a lot and it's often at himself. He is also passionate about music and admits it wouldn't be a bad life to sit around playing upright bass all day.

As well as his love for music and work as a member of the popular Crunchy Western Boys, Steve works as a salesperson and maintains a small farm in Meredith with his wife and son.

"I grew up in Pyringham, Mass.; it's a small town in the Berkshires. We lived near a lake and it reminds me a lot of the Lakes Region," he says.

Steve moved to New Hampshire to attend Plymouth State University and majored in music. He played the trumpet, but eventually tried playing bass.

"I thought I could do it, and I found out I love playing the upright bass," said McBrian. "I've been playing bass for more than 20 years."

Fifteen or so years ago Steve and his wife moved to a small farm in Meredith. It's a peaceful, very quiet spot and he loves the area.

"We have a few horses, chickens and a large acreage," he explains.

It is heaven after years spent commuting to work at his father's business in the Berkshires and coming home to New Hampshire on weekends.

Eventually, Steve found a way to do sales for the company from his home office and he is very glad he isn't commuting these days. Now, he says, he can work during the week and play with the band on weekends.

"I joined the Crunchy Western Boys about a year ago. I had played with their guitarist, Morris Manning, off and on for 20 years. The name of the band came about when a bartender dubbed two band members Crunchy Jim and Western Wayne!"

Steve explains that the band has been around three or four years and is steadily gaining in popularity. "We had a nice write-up in a newspaper and then we were studio guests on the NHPR folk show where we got to play live."

The band has been everywhere it seems and plays all over New England. They also have played in Europe and are planning to do so again this coming year.

"Our music is 90 percent original," Steve comments. "We write a lot of our own stuff. We aren't really bluegrass and we aren't newgrass. We have a rock and pop sensibility too."

While it is difficult to categorize the band, when one listens to their wonderful sound, there is something that just works. If you like pop or rock, they fit your taste. If you like bluegrass, you will also find a lot to like. And if you like to have a good time, this is the band for you.

"People like our music and they find they can sing along. The weird thing is we don't seem to be for any particular demographic," he says. "We are acoustic and we don't have drums. And we are bemused by the fact that people really like us!"

The Crunchy Western Boys will be playing locally a lot in the coming months and they hope to increase their performance schedule in Boston and on the Seacoast of New Hampshire.

"We will be at Longhaul Farm in Holderness today at 6 p.m. and Saturday at Loon Mountain from 1 to 4 p.m. And we are excited that we will be playing at the Flying Monkey in Plymouth on Nov. 20," Steve says.

The band will have a new album out in a few weeks; visit www.crunchywesternboys.com or find them on Facebook.
- By KATHI HOPPER - Laconia Citizen

Talking with Steve McBrian, you get the sense that you've known him for years, that he's pulling you aside in a hallway to tell you a story he just knows you'll get a kick out of. He doesn't care if you see his rough edges, doesn't hesitate or equivocate or backpedal.

It's the same feeling you get when you listen to the music McBrian plays with his band, the Crunchy Western Boys, who perform Saturday night at Penuche's Ale House. The songs are familiar, folksy, raucous and raw - a malt you swear you've tasted before but can't quite place.

And yet, you couldn't have, because, well, nobody plays this same music this same way. The Crunchy Western Boys themselves aren't sure how, exactly, to define the "crunchy Western" genre.

"We've been sitting around as a band saying, 'we've got to find an answer to that question," said McBrian, who plays the bass fiddle for the band. "I guess you could call it alt-bluegrass, but I know that's kind of lame . . . we're playing bluegrass, but we're coming at it from a very rock 'n' roll angle."

Playing only acoustic instruments - banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, guitars and such - the band delivers roots-y tunes with lyrics that depart from the usual "Jesus and death" bluegrass themes. Their original songs, which dominate their concerts, talk of things like forbidden attraction, cold New Hampshire days and enduring love.

There are some melancholy themes within those songs. "Driving With the Windows Down" doesn't just muse on the joy of cruising in a pick-up truck but mourns, among other things, the loss of farm lands to planned communities.

But there is also the sense that these guys are having fun. The repartee between their instruments is quick and light and the dark humor of songs like "Bathtub Gin" is just, well, intoxicating: "Bathtub gin, bathtub gin, just look at the way that I'm drowning in, bucket after bucket, man it sure is a sin, I'm going down the drain with my bathtub gin."

And when they take songs like that on the road, they like to let it all hang out. "I'm always joking that we're the loudest acoustic band on the planet," said McBrian, who studied trumpet at Plymouth State University and now lives on a small farm in Meredith with his wife and son.

McBrian joined the band last year after they parted ways with their original bass player. He had played in previous gigs with lead vocalist and songwriter Morris Manning and already knew the back-up vocal parts to the songs they were recording for their new CD, so they asked him to come to the studio with them.

The next thing McBrian knew, he was playing the bass fiddle at a show. "I used to play electric bass, but I hadn't ever played upright bass," he said. "It's a completely different instrument. . . . I picked it up on a Monday and had to play a gig on Thursday. I had the most horrific, nasty blisters on my right hand."

But McBrian quickly made a connection with the instrument - and with the band. He's not sure why and how, but the music just seems to work. The band has played in Ireland and across the United States, picking up a first-place win at the Northwest Strings Summit in Oregon last year, and recently returned from a wild tour in the Virgin Islands.

"It took about three days before people were stopping us on the street and saying, 'Hey, Crunchy Boys,' " McBrian recalled. "We went down with four gigs booked and ended up playing every night but one."

The most rewarding of those gigs, McBrian said, was a little jam they did at the campsite where they stayed. Not only did they have the best attendance of any band that had played there, but they even drew in the locals. "That's something they told us never happens," said McBrian, who's regularly amazed at the varied crowds they attract and the curious mix of venues that book them: After playing Penuche's on Saturday, for instance, they're taping a Folk Show episode at New Hampshire Public Radio on Sunday. (It airs March 21, at 7 p.m.)
There's another thing that amazes McBrian, too, an elusive accomplishment that's as hard to explain as the music itself. "We get people to dance," he said. "People dance at our shows - not just once in a while, but regularly." - By Sarah M. Earle - Concord Monitor

So I'm sitting at the back edge of the tent with some fellow singer songwriter guys, Mike Conner and Jim Tyrell, deep in conversation about music and enjoying a beverage when we all stop mid-sentence and stare up at the stage. Morris Manning has just pulled off another one of those amazing guitar licks. It is just these kinds of moments that humble guys like me who think they are pretty good at pickin' only to hear a Morris riff that seems impossible for the human hand to accomplish, curse you Morris!

Yes its the Saturday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend and I'm sitting here at Tony's Italian Grille & Pub listening to one of the best musical acts in the region. For that matter as they were the winners of the Northwest String Summit Band Competition in August of last year in Oregon and the fact that they regularly tour Ireland and the Caribbean...well lets just say their fan base is not limited to our area. The Crunchy Western Boys or CWB have been at it for the better part of a decade running the full gambit from the occasional wedding to being featured artists on the Folk Show on NHPR.

Although the set up is somewhat Blue Grass in nature, CWB defies categorization conceding only that their genre is "Crunchy". And it really does make sense as the band regularly pulls off their own versions of Bob Marley and U2 songs along with a deep collection of originals. Spanning the spectrum and pushing the boundaries with songs such as the ultra smooth reflectionary tale "Driving with the Windows Down" to the traditional ballads like "Summer of 29"; CWB is a prime example of what it is like to be well rounded and ungrounded.

The line up consists of Jim McHugh on mandolin and guitar, Steve McBrian on stand-up bass, Jacob stern on fiddle and of course Morris Manning on guitar and dobro (They all sing and harmonize). "A drinkin' band with a music problem..." a tongue and cheek way of expressing their constant desire to have a good time wherever they play,

The crowd at Tony's tonight has been treated to an exceptional evening under the tent. A diverse audience for sure, I spoke with one family who were represented by three generations. Angelo and Jonna of Hanson Mass, along with sisters, uncles, grandparents and cousins say they always try to see the CWB's everytime they venture north, and locals such as Guy and Sherry from NO.Woodstock told me that this performance got them to finally check out Tony's. From toddlers to seniors, CWB and Tony's can count this as a successful night of connecting a diverse crowd of folks with great live music.

"It seems there was a great original live music scene in the 90's and then it seemed to disappear" Says Anthony Pierce, propitiator of Tony's and he goes on to explain his passion and vision to bring a live music venue back it the area. A musician himself ( I still remember 'Chasing Rabbits') Anthony has been successful in attracting great regional acts keeping his ears open for the best Blues, Jazz, Rock and Folk the area has to offer. "Huge response to the live original music" he goes on to say and judging from the amount of happy folks here tonight I'd have to agree. You can access more info on the Crunchy Western Boys at www.crunchywesternboys.com and Tony's Italian Grille & Pub is located on route 3 in Thornton by the Jack-o'-lantern golf course.
- Sky King – North Country News

…and the warmly infectious, everyman songwriting well of New Hampshire's Crunchy Western Boys. CWB would emerge the winners, and were very humbled and even graciously surprised. These cats are refreshingly unassuming talents, and I was looking forward to a second helping on Sunday morning.



Sunday began with my second helping of Crunchy Western Boys, and it was a great chance to soak up their sunshine again. Morris Manning (guitar, dobro), Jim McHugh (mando, guitar), Jacob Stern (fiddle) and Dave Walker (bass) have meaty instrumental chops and breezy, sly pens. As folks rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, they set the stage for the last day of festival with winking grins and a twist of Irish coffee. With tunes like "Bathtub Gin" (no, not the Phish song, this one is straight from the backwoods) and "Natural Blonde," they have a touch of the bawdy barfly in them, coupled with their amiable, folksy charms, that draws you in with a crooked index finger. Readers, take note.

- JamBase

Is it possible for something to be both smooth and crunchy? Dichotomous though it seems, in the case of New Hampshire's Crunchy Western Boys, the answer is a resounding "yes." And we're not the only ones who think so. Oregon's acclaimed Northwest String Summit, hosted by noted newgrass brosephs Yonder Mountain String Band, no less, recently tabbed the original bluegrass quartet as one of four finalistes in their annual band competition, which we imagine to be something along the lines of American Idol, but, well, crunchier. - 7 Days Vermont