DRUNK AS DRAGONS

Alternative Tentacles unearths The Woodbox Gang, yet another avant-Americana gem for their trophy case of stellar American roots acts. The Woodbox Gang sprang from Vulture Valley (we kid you not!) in Southern Illinois, a land of swampy forests, coal mines, and festering religious conservatism cradled by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. They combine the roots music tools of trade guitar, mandolin, lap steel, and the fiddle with unconventional instruments like the didgeridoo, or just jury-rig what.