Redding songwriter Jim Dyar and I have been mutual fans – and supporters of each other’s music – for a long time. We’ve shared more than a few sunny (and rainy) weekends at the Strawberry Music Festival trading songs in camp. We’ve also been able to play together a few times up in his Redding stomping grounds. (A personal highlight was last December. We were both thrilled and humbled to be included at the Old City Hall benefit for the late, great Chuck McCabe.)

Maybe it’s something in the water up north, but those northern California musician types don’t screw around taking their time. Early last year, Jim had just finished his debut CD, “Magical Land”. At the same time, he told me was playing around with a new side project, a “string band” that had some other songwriters in it.

Less than a year later, Redding’s “Muletown String Band” with their self-proclaimed “Klamath Mountain Soul” has released their first record, just returned from a tour up into Oregon, and have already shared the stage with the likes of Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, Tom Rigney and Flambeau, Incendio, and Merle Haggard’s Strangers.

Their debut, simply titled “Muletown” is definitely a collective effort. They mix traditional bluegrass instruments (banjo, mandolin, fiddle), with hand percussion (cajon and djembe), an Americana songwriting foundation, and the harmonies that you’d expect in a more traditional bluegrass band.

Redding’s “Muletown String Band”

(The band has “mule” in their name, so I knew I was going to like them already. Plus, Jim’s one of my favorite songwriters. Double score.) 😉

Along with a few Dyar-penned tunes on the release, Morgan Hannaford (mandolin) Paul Calkins (banjo), and Torri Pratt (vocals) add songs to the mix. There are also co-writes from many of the band’s members. Again, this is a collboration. What really stands out is Muletown’s unique sound. It’s not traditional bluegrass, but there are elements (Calkin’s Scruggs-style banjo and Hannford’s mandolin). Add the Neil Young and Merle Haggard-influenced Americana tunes from Jim, along with Manuel’s world music vibe on hand percussion that keeps everyone legal on and on time, and you’ve got something very different and easy to listen to.

The band normally sticks close to home, but if you’d like to catch them a little closer, they’ve just been added to the mix at this year’s The American River Music Festival in September. They play the Sierra Nevada House in Coloma CA at 8 pm on Friday night, September 16th. On Sunday morning, September 18th, they’ll be at the Sierra Rizing Bakery at 9 am, down the road in Lotus.

Note: This Friday, July 15th just HAPPENS to be the early-bird ticket discount deadline for the festival. For details, see the ticket page at americanrivermusic.org.