By Amanda Schreck
SC Staff Writer

On the chilly fall night of November 14 at the Sarah Street Bar and Grill in Stroudsburg, Hoochie Coochie Men of Easton, PA filled the busy bar with their unique blend of blues, folk, and rock.

Zach Gold, vocals and guitar, Joey Tumulty, lead vocals and keyboard, Alex Musso, lead guitar, Grant Kempski, bass, and Brian Duke, drums, brought Stroudsburg a new taste for bluesy folk music.

They performed not only songs from their upcoming EP “Big Blue Tree,” but they also did numerous covers to get the crowd excited and dancing.

“We were in the studio for seven days,” Gold said about their experience recording the new EP.

“We were fortunate enough that the studio had an apartment upstairs for us. So, we lived in the studio for seven days. And it was nice because even after we were done recording during the day, the studio was open to us 24/7. We just slept there. Four days for the music and 3 days of mixing and mastering. It was a great experience.”

One of their favorite songs, and their first single off the new EP is “Big Blue Tree,” which mixes horns and piano with a rich beat of drums and bass that begs to be danced to.

“It was nice to really experiment because we had that time in the studio. I love all of them but that’s one of my favorites,” Musso said of the single.

Their second single, “I’d Rather Go Blind/Don’t’ Let Me Down,” was released November 13. It is one of Kempski’s favorites. “It’s kind of cool because we did that in like two takes. That one was unique because it was a live tape, and we overdid background vocals, and that’s it. Honestly the cool part is, I listened back to that, and I had no idea what I was doing on bass. I couldn’t replicate anything.”

Some of the other songs on the EP that were also included in the live show include: “Here I Remain,” “Living Alone,” “Things I Know,” and “That Evening Train.”

Musso said, “This is our first set of recordings that we’re really trying to push out, and so far, all the feedback has been really great.”

After their upcoming gig in Philadelphia on November 15, they plan to visit a few more stops this year including shows in DC in the December and Boston in January, all while trying to create more music.

“Over the summer we did a really big tour, like 35 or more dates. But now we’re slowing down a bit and doing maybe 3 shows a month. We’re trying to maintain our fan base in the areas that we helped build and start over the summer,” said Musso.

While finishing up the last few shows this year, their main focus is to write, create, and tour some more. “We’re trying to write more. That’s our goal right now,” said Gold.

“We want to write this whole time while we’re still playing shows and maybe in the future, we’ll maybe have enough for a full length album,” said Tumulty.

For more information about Hoochie Coochie Men and their new EP, visit their official website http://hoochiecoochiemenband.com/ and their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HoochieCoochieMen.

More music is just around the corner!

Email Amanda at:
aschreck@live.esu.edu