Bluegrass has a way of creeping up on you. One minute, you’re sitting there all cool and collected in your fedora and sunglasses, and the next minute your toes are tapping and your head is nodding to those insistent banjo and mandolin thrums.
Even city kids can’t help but respond to this happy-rootsy music, and that may explain why a new band on the independent family music scene, the Okee Dokee Brothers, is getting so much attention. They take a traditional bluegrass sound and update it with a big band sound, trippy musical references, clever wordplay and tons of humour. There are probably hundreds of children’s songs promoting good hygiene, but few as fun-loving and catchy as their song “Wash Your Face,” performed live with some of their Twin Cities musical pals, featuring a little riff on the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun.”
