Album Notes

Woody Guthrie’s pre-rap talking blues never blossomed into a genre. And it never came close to the lyrical complexity and stylistic variation of hip hop rapping.

But what if it had?

Irresistible, rock-like grooves from banjo, mandolin, fiddle and acoustic bass. Cutting-edge bluegrass virtuosity. Honesty, wit and passion. Deep roots in the American acoustic tradition. Rapid and deft rap vocals.

Yes, rap.

Meet the Deadly Gentlemen, whose wildly original debut The Bastard Masterpiece proudly defies the stereotypes of both banjo and rap to define an organic, captivating, and totally novel approach to folk music.

“Trust us, this is not what you are expecting,” says Greg Liszt, the band’s banjo player and vocalist, who recently completed an international tour with Bruce Springsteen and a Ph. D. in Molecular Biology from MIT.

Each of the ten songs on The Bastard Masterpiece is narrative, topical, and firmly rooted in either traditional or contemporary folk themes. But each song brings its own wit, edge, and attitude to bear our common experiences and fantasies:

The violent Wild West; the metropolitan workday; the end of the damned world; that time you drank too much; the baddest hobo ever to ride rails; ghosts coming back to the world for their living lovers; regret, seizing you, you'll do anything to shake it off.

This album features Greg Liszt (Bruce Springsteen; Crooked Still) on banjo and vocals; Josh Pinkham (Frank Vignola Quintet) on mandolin; Michael Barnett (Jesse McReynolds; Tony Trischka) on fiddle; and Sam Grisman (David Grisman Bluegrass Experience) on double bass.