The Pine Hill Haints
Encyclopedia
The Pine Hill Haints are a traditional bluegrass
/folk
/honky tonk
/country
band from Alabama
, though the band members themselves describe their unique southern roots music as “Alabama Ghost Music.”
The Haints are composed of Jamie Barrier on guitar
and vocals, wife Katie “Kat” Barrier on washboard
and mandolin
, Matt Bakula on washtub bass
and tenor banjo, and Ben Rhyne on snare drum
.
, Alabama
, where the band occasionally used to practice.
, rockabilly
, rock and roll
, celtic music
, blues
music, and bluegrass
. While their catalog of songs comprises mainly original material, the band has also been known to cover traditional gospel (Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies, Where The Roses Never Fade), cowboy (I Ride An Old Paint, Back In The Saddle Again
), and folk (Goodnight Irene, Oh! Suzanna/Camptown Races
) songs.
In addition to their live instruments, the band also utilizes a number of traditional American folk music instruments (such as a fiddle
, harmonica
, tenor banjo
, mandolin
, saw
, and accordion
) on their recordings. Occasionally, members of the Haints will swap instruments or abandon his or her primary instrument altogether, instead performing on one of the aforementioned instruments for a song or two. The band has several former members, and depending on how many happen to be present at a performance, surprise guest performers may accompany the Haints onstage. Such impromptu reunion performances are not completely unexpected at their shows.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
/folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
/honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
/country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
band from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, though the band members themselves describe their unique southern roots music as “Alabama Ghost Music.”
The Haints are composed of Jamie Barrier on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and vocals, wife Katie “Kat” Barrier on washboard
Washboard
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, Matt Bakula on washtub bass
Washtub bass
The washtub bass, or "gutbucket", is a stringed instrument used in American folk music that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. Although it is possible for a washtub bass to have four or more strings and tuning pegs, traditional washtub basses have a single string whose pitch is adjusted by...
and tenor banjo, and Ben Rhyne on snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
.
Current lineup
- Jamie Barrier - vocals, guitars, fiddle
- Katie “Kat” Barrier – washboard, mandolin, saw
- Matt Bakula - washtub, tenor banjo
- Ben Rhyne – snare
- Joey Barrier - banjo
- Jon Lucius - accordion
Former members
- Travis Hightower - washtub
- Roger Holcombe - snare
- Rymodee - saw
- Bradley Williams - washtub
- Jeremy Dale Henderson- snare
- Matt Comer- snare
- Mike Posey - accordion
Origin of name
The Pine Hill Haints name is derived from the Pine Hill Cemetery in AuburnAuburn, Alabama
Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, where the band occasionally used to practice.
Musical style
The Pine Hill Haints perform music they consider to be “dead” in the modern world, hence their self-proclaimed “Ghost Music.” Some examples of the genres they perform include (but are not limited to) gospelGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
music, and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
. While their catalog of songs comprises mainly original material, the band has also been known to cover traditional gospel (Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies, Where The Roses Never Fade), cowboy (I Ride An Old Paint, Back In The Saddle Again
Back in the Saddle Again
"Back in the Saddle Again" was the signature song of American cowboy entertainer Gene Autry. It was co-written by Autry with Ray Whitley and first released in 1939...
), and folk (Goodnight Irene, Oh! Suzanna/Camptown Races
Camptown Races
Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster . It was probably composed in Cincinnati in 1849, according to Richard Jackson, and published by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, in February 1850...
) songs.
In addition to their live instruments, the band also utilizes a number of traditional American folk music instruments (such as a fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, tenor banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, saw
Musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin...
, and accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
) on their recordings. Occasionally, members of the Haints will swap instruments or abandon his or her primary instrument altogether, instead performing on one of the aforementioned instruments for a song or two. The band has several former members, and depending on how many happen to be present at a performance, surprise guest performers may accompany the Haints onstage. Such impromptu reunion performances are not completely unexpected at their shows.
Discography
| Year | Title | Label | Format | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 2000 in music See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List.... |
God, the Devil and the Two by the Gate | Arkam Records | 12" LP | |
| 2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI... |
The Cold, Cold Hand | Arkam Records | CD | Split album with The Natchez Shakers (“The Devil’s Backbone”). |
| 2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI... |
Tales From The Front Porch | Arkam Records | 12" LP | Split album with The Crypt Kickers and The Plain Clothes Creep String Trio. |
| 2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI... |
Alabama Ghost Country Music | Nation of Kids | 7" EP | |
| 2003 2003 in music -January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested... |
Trains Have No Names | Arkam Records | CD | |
| 2003 2003 in music -January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested... |
Split | Arkam Records | 7" EP | Split with David Dondero David Dondero David Dondero is an American songwriter, guitarist, former lead singer of the band Sunbrain. In 2006, NPR's All Songs Considered named David one of the "best living songwriters" alongside Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Tom Waits... , 500 copies pressed on black vinyl. |
| 2004 2004 in music See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol.... |
Those Who Wander | Arkam Records | CD | |
| 2004 2004 in music See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol.... |
You Bury Your Hate In A Shallow Grave | Lelp Recordings | CD | |
| 2005 2005 in music -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:... |
The Pine Hill Haints Meet Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck | Lelp Recordings | CD | Split album with Clampitt Gaddis & Buck. |
| 2005 2005 in music -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:... |
Jack of Diamonds | Arkam Records | 7" EP | 500 copies pressed on black vinyl. |
| 2007 2007 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame... |
Darktime Came to the Hills | Sunburst Records | 7" EP | 500 copies pressed on black vinyl with handscreened covers |
| 2007 2007 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame... |
Ghost Dance Ghost Dance (album) -Side A:#"Spirit of 1812" – 2:14#"For Every Glass That's Empty" – 1:55#"I Never Thought the Day Would Come When You Could Hate Me So" – 2:07#"Say Something, Say Anything" - 1:34#"St. Louis Blues" - 3:12... |
K Records K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers... |
12" LP / CD | |
| 2009 2009 in music The following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year... |
To Win or To Lose To Win or To Lose -Side A:#"Intro" –#"Not So Lucky and the Invisible Kid" –#"Charley Horse" –#"Bordello Blackwidow" -#"Scar" -#"Halloween-Time All the Time" -#"Never Cry" -#"Revenge of the SpiderWeb Boy" -... |
K Records K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers... |
12" LP / CD | |
| 2009 2009 in music The following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year... |
Riding the Long Southern Train Blues | Arkam Records | 7" EP | Included with Spidder #14 zine. |
| 2010 2010 in music 2010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music... |
Black Casket | Razorcake Razorcake Razorcake is a 501 non-profit organization that publishes the Razorcake fanzine, a DIY punk rock fanzine published bi-monthly out of Los Angeles, California... / 45RPM Records |
7" EP | 110 copies pressed on translucent red vinyl, the rest on black vinyl. |
| 2010 2010 in music 2010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music... |
Split | Let's Pretend Records | 7" EP | Split EP with the Trainwreck Riders. 110 copies pressed on clear vinyl, 440 copies pressed on black vinyl. |
| 2011 | The Evening Star | Arkam Records / 45RPM Records/Burger Records | 12" LP / CD / Cassette Cassette Cassette may refer to:*In general, a small cartridge. It may refer specifically to:** Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback, also known as audio cassette, cassette tape, or tape... |
Compilation album featuring songs from various Haints 7" EPs and previously unreleased tracks. LP and CD released on Arkam Records, cassette jointly released by 45RPM Records and Burger Records. Cassette edition limited to 250 hand-numbered copies. |
| 2011 | Welcome to the Midnight Opry | K Records K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers... |
12" LP / CD | |
| 2011 | Split | Ya Dig? Records | 10" EP / CD-R CD-R A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session.... |
Split EP with Serious Sam Barrett. Packaged together with CD-R of the Split. |
| 2011 | Tales of Crime | K Records K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers... |
7" EP | Release #138 in K Records' International Pop Underground 7" series |