The Bearded's members keep music, faces unkempt

The Bearded

The Bearded

KNOXVILLE — Knoxville band The Bearded are not what you think. Preconceived notions based on the group's name or its instrumentation have steered many wrong in the past. Despite the name, The Bearded do not play so-called "beard rock," and contrary to the washboard, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer and upright bass used, the band does not play bluegrass.

What The Bearded does play is what the group refers to as old-time string music. As for the frequently overanalyzed name, Kyle Campbell explains that although most of the time the entire group does maintain flowing manes of facial hair, it is only indicative of the band's "unkempt," casual approach to writing and performing.

"We don't play bluegrass music," says Matt Morelock. "We're not a bluegrass band; we have bluegrass instrumentation. We do pre-bluegrass string band music and then we do a lot of really oddball stuff on these instruments like Bee Gees and Ween. We've never tried to be a traditional band. These are the instruments we like to play and are maybe best at playing. A lot of people make that distinction when they see the set of instruments that we play, but if you ask a true bluegrass band if what we're doing is bluegrass, they'd say hell no."

"People always want us to have this big shtick about the beards," adds Campbell of the name. "When we named the band officially, the people involved with the band all had beards, and we went with that. I did kind of take it seriously to the degree that it's sort of an unkempt way to look, and our general attitude about the whole band is kind of unkempt. It's not a philosophy we aspire to, it's just kind of the reality of it. We've never been into plastic coating things or sending out our bio to explain how the band lays out soundscapes or whatever. We're not really trying to sell anything."

This casual approach to performing is followed when booking shows as well. Rather than actively seeking out venues to host its shows, The Bearded lets the event planners come to them. After 10 years of performing together, the band can afford to rely exclusively on word of mouth for its promotion and is never short on gigs.

"One thing that has kept this band together in place of other great bands I've seen that hit a zenith and then break apart, have interpersonal issues or they're not enjoying it anymore, is that we don't make a business out of the band," says Morelock. "We enjoy the business that comes to the band and end up doing some pretty good paying gigs, just enough to keep us on top of the material and wanting to release records. When you do that for long enough, those gigs come frequently. Showing up at a venue, wedding or barbecue where they've invited you is so much better than a gig you've solicited. People treat you much better. You're more of a guest than an employee, and it's more engaging and friendly."

"We like when people call us and ask The Bearded to come play," Campbell adds. "Everything has been word of mouth. It pains me to see them even set up a Myspace account for the band and keep all that stuff. ... I gave up on Myspace. I think we get more publicity just by word of mouth and that's the best kind."

This laid-back approach is also reflected in the time taken in recordings. The Bearded are on the verge of releasing a sophomore album "Beards of Fire" later this summer (tentatively), one full year after the completion of the studio recording. Having amassed a new album's worth of material in the year that's passed, The Bearded are tempted to begin a third album while they wait.

"Our next album is completely done, but it hasn't gotten to be released yet," Campbell admits. "It comes back to how many hands have had to exchange it and the general availability of the hands it's gone to - it's just passed hands a lot. We finished all the recordings last summer, so all it needs is to be remastered and pressed, so that I'm hoping will be finished very soon."

The Bearded are scheduled to play at Ijams Nature Center on Saturday as part of the IjamsFest fundraiser. Also performing are The Lone Tones, Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere, Natti Love Joys, and Cain and Annabelle. Tickets are $10. The Bearded are also slated to play Preservation Pub on Wednesday.

A certain je ne sais quois: Somebody and the Somethings play Preservation Pub with Rayland Baxter tonight at 9.

Nothin' says lovin' like Big Bad Oven: Pilot Light hosts Big Bad Oven, Dirty Lungs and Dexter Romweber Duo tonight. The show kicks off at 10 p.m. and costs $6.

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