For generations, practitioners of that uniquely American art form known variously as old-time or string-band music – progenitor of country, precursor to bluegrass – have labored in obscurity, their talents unrecognized, their provenance maligned. The men of Tangleweed are proud to uphold that tradition.

One year in the making, Saint Anyway’s third album is a banjo-fueled bonfire of north-country grit and unfettered exuberance. While the Minnesota trio’s previous releases (2009’s Paper Town and 2010’s Two) played it safe with chiming banjo/guitar arrangements that were never raucous nor out-of-time, Here On The Ground delivers a boot-stomping spirit previously saved for the group’s hell-raising road show. Tempering the fiery (“Burnin’ Down the House”, “How To Prove You Love Someone”) with the introspective (“Sunday Blue”, “Till The Wheels Fall Off”) this latest effort marks a coming-of-age for Minnesota’s most exciting new alt-grass ensemble.

Saint Anyway is Jamie Kallestad (Guitar/Vocals), Tony Petersen (Banjo/Vocals) and Dane Levinski (Bass). Together the three longtime collaborators composed, recorded, and produced Here On The Ground entirely independently, lending the finished work an undeniable home-spun cohesiveness. All songs are original, with the core instrumentation of banjo, guitar, and bass recorded live in the sanctuaries of two re-purposed churches in northern Minnesota. (Sparta Sound, Sparta and Sacred Heart Studio, Duluth) To add color to their blistering rhythm tracks, Saint Anyway called up musician friends from across the country to contribute to Here On The Ground. Most notable among the diverse contributions is Ben Cosgrove’s screaming organ, a wild swirl that veers the onetime string band into oncoming lanes of rock-a-billy, soul, and rock-and-roll. With other additions of fiddle, dobro, and even (forget bluegrass) a brass section, Saint Anyway’s new sound is bigger and more un-classifiable than ever before.

Throughout December and into the new year, Saint Anyway will be touring the country in support of Here On The Ground. December will take the group to back to Colorado where they have been steadily building a fan base since 2008. Plans for 2012 include tour stops in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina and a second run through the northeast corridor. Here On The Ground is currently available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and in independent music stores throughout the Midwest.

Justin and the Salty Dogs began making music out of necessity. When Brownie McGhee (1915-1996) so astutely said years ago that “Blues is Truth,” he exposed the roots of an ancient philosophical tradition that regards music as playing an important role in the welfare of a troubled mind. The ancient Roman philosopher Seneca (ca. 4 BCE-65 CE), for instance, speaks like a bluesman when he says, “Let the mind be soothed by the reading of poetry and occupied by the tales of history; it should be treated with sensitivity and finesse. Pythagoras used to calm his worried mind with the lyre; and who does not know that the cornet and trumpet act as stimulants to the mind, just as certain songs provide it therapeutic relief” (De Ira 3.9). The songs by Justin and the Salty Dogs, initially self-prescribed medicines, have precisely this aim. The “physicians” with whom they have consulted are numerous, but a few are especially worthy of mention: Mississippi John Hurt (1893-1966); Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933); Sonny Terry (1911-1986); Woody Guthrie (1912-1967); and Muddy Waters (1913-1983). They tip their hats to these sage musicians and others like them, in all their complexity and problems, for pointing the way.

The Trick Shooter Social Club is a place tucked just behind the beat.It is a tiny dusty corner of the world where music is timeless instead of soulless. It is a belief in the power of story and the sublime hip sway of a well placed middle eight. It is cat gut, and pick guards, and hand scribbles, and nods across the stage when it’s time to go to the bridge. It is acoustic… and electric… and reverent to its heroes… and of the now. It is a collection of artists, gypsies, showmen, shaman, and curious travelers trying to get it right. But most of all… it is an invitation. Join us… won’t you?