Bindley Hardware Co. digs into country roots on ‘Bloomfield Sound’
Jon Bindley would love to make a full album where he sets a tone, mood and style and sticks with it for 40 seamless minutes. But that’s not realistic, at least at the moment. The Pittsburgh singer-songwriter is a little too genre-curious for that, in part due to the 200-plus songs that swirl in his head as repertoire for his monthly Honky-Tonk Jukebox shows.
Instead, the Bindley Hardware Co. frontman who grew up in Greenfield and Forest Hills allowed himself the freedom to explore on “Bloomfield Sound,” an album named for the neighborhood where those Honky-Tonks of classic country songs take place.
“I sometimes struggle feeling like I span a lot of the broader genre on my records,” he says. “The one in 2017 is kind of the same way where it’s like, here’s one that’s a little bluegrass-y, here’s one that’s a little like a modern alt-country-type thing, here’s stuff that is just straight neo-revivalist honky-tonk. And I kind of just throw them all together, for better or worse.”
“Bloomfield Sound” begins with “Deadbeat Daddy,” a Southern rocker that becomes bigger and more soulful as it chugs along. It quickly shifts gears into “Akimbo,” a fast-paced swing tune inspired by Fats Domino, and “Losers Waltz,” a ballad harking back to “Nashville Skyline”-era Dylan.
“I definitely wrote ‘Losers Waltz’ and ‘Akimbo’ with the Honky-Tonk audience in mind,” Bindley says. “We do a lot of covers, but we mix in originals, so I’m like, ‘I want a song like this, I want a song that will go over.’ And then playing those songs for the crowd before they’re recorded is a cool way to woodshed. It’s a great beta test for the material.”
Another song for the Honky-Tonk is “Nana Mae’s Kitchen,” a bluegrassy ode to his late grandmother written in a vein of John Prine meets Guy Clark.
“It’s just growing up and realizing, after the fact, as an adult, ‘Oh, I had Irish immigrant grandparents. That was actually pretty unique and cool, and it gave me sort of a different lens into life,” says Bindley. “I look back and I’m like, ‘That was very much like a movie or something.’ She died when I was 16 or 17, so that feels like so many lifetimes ago. Being able to put a spin on those childhood memories was really cool.”
Two songs unlikely to turn up at the Honky-Tonk are “Hardware” and “Cinderblock,” which are paired on the record. The first is like a goofy “Basement Tapes” take with airy vocals from Addi Twigg (Cisco Kid), Margot Jezerc (Buffalo Rose) and Kelsey Robinson. And “Cinderblock,” written with a “True Detective” theme in mind, has a Southern Gothic feel.
“‘Hardware’ is a totally ridiculous song, isn’t it?” Bindley says. “It’s like a riff song. It has no chorus, no form, really, it’s just like a totally wacky, kind of fun album song. I was just having fun with double entendres, of like, hardware meets suggestive things.”
Despite leading the cover-heavy HonkyTonks, Bindley had yet to record a cover. But he did just that with “I Can’t Be Blue in Bloomfield,” which is, obviously, not a classic country song. It’s more of a Pittsburgh indie classic from the catalog of defunct Pittsburgh band The Harlan Twins, written by Carrie Battle.
“The past five years or so, Bloomfield’s been our home base, and the crowd comes out and it’s like a very special community,” he says. “Carrie was at one of the Honky-Tonks, just checking out the show, and I was like, ‘Hey, would it be cool if I played it at the Honky-Tonks?’ and she was like, ‘Of course, go for it!’”
“Bloomfield Sound” was produced by Nate Campisi at Mr. Smalls Studio with a core band of Jesse Prentiss (bass), Alex Peck (drums), Pete Freeman (pedal steel guitar), Donnie Bell (guitar), Lee Hintenlang (sax and mandolin) and Corey Wood (banjo and fiddle), with minimal post-production.
“We did it a lot live,” Bindley says, “just trying to capture this band that’s really sharp from the Honky-Tonk. I wanted to capture that lightning in a bottle as best we could.”
The release party is at the Honky-Tonk Jukebox at the Bloomfield Liedertafel Singing Society, 410 S. Mathilda, at 7 p.m. Friday with Poster Child. Tickets are $ 20; tinyurl.com/bloomfieldsound.