Come Play With Treefort - A Western Mass Cult Favorite

Have you ever gone to a show and felt like you were cheating on the headliner because you secretly liked the opener a little better? It happens, there’s nothing to be ashamed of - I’m guilty of it myself. A few years back at Harry’s/The Elevens (Northampton, MA) I went to a Fancy Trash show, and these Treefort guys were opening. It was self-deprecating rock, alt-country twang and some of the finest humor you could hope for. The next thing you knew, I was up and dancing (okay, bobbing my head, let’s not get too carried away here – everyone knows I’ve got no rhythm) and singing along with their call-and-response classic “Your Best Friend”. I bought the Girls Allowed CD after their set, and that was it – I was hooked.

Okay, so you’re a music whore, we get it. Who are these guys and why should we care? Wow, harsh. Slightly true, but still. These guys have been around since ’95, and if you’re from the Western Mass area you’ve probably seen their name on more than a few flyers. Paul Hansbury (vocals/guitar) founded the band with local legend Matt Hebert (Ware River Club, Haunt), who played drums at the time. They were joined by Mark Turcotte on bass and Bob Hennessy on lead guitar, and after Mr. Hebert left the band in ’99 he was replaced by Joe O’Rourke, drummer extraordinaire. And since then, aside from a number of fill-ins at various shows and some regular guests along the way (such as the vocal talent of Marcia Bergeron), that’s been the core foursome. As to why you should care – you may not believe it, kids, but Treefort actually put the “hoot” in “hootenanny” (if you don’t buy it, I bet I can put it up on Wikipedia, then you’d have to believe it. Right?).

So, Girls Allowed is their first disc – isn’t that the one with the gross can of baked beans on the cover? My girlfriend retches whenever she sees it in Turn It Up!, but should I give it a listen? Darn tootin’ you should. I’ll admit that, to some, Hansbury’s raw vocal style can be an acquired taste. But my best friend summed it up best when talking about another unusual crooner, this Bob Dylan fella: “You either get it or you don’t. I get it.” And once you open up to it, the album becomes a veritable playground of well-crafted songwriting (like “House”, increasing tempo with each verse, starting slow and bulding to a fevered pitch by the finale), self-deprecating wit (“Wimbledon” spells out how “My name will never be engraved upon the Stanley Cup/I’ll never figure out the pick and roll” but “I do come to play”) and absurdist humor (“Idi Amin Dada” tells the story of the Ugandan dictator from the viewpoint of his children: “Idi Amin was our Dada/Somebody gunned him down” and shares his cannibalistic diet tips: “Legs and arms and vegetables/Our meals all came complete”). Their mix of humor, emotion and deft musicianship spotlights the truly rare thing with this disc - that they’ve found the balance that most bands could only dream of. You see, most groups either thrive onstage OR on disc. It’s unusual to see a band as spirited as Treefort is live be able to carry that energy into the studio - but damn if they don’t pull it off. No overpolished, overly produced tripe - just a portrait of a band having fun.

Okay, okay - I’ll give it a go. Do they have any other discs I could check out? A second album called Talking To The Dogs is in the can, and everything I’ve heard from it so far has been equally entertaining. Early artwork from the disc features original paintings by Hansbury, and the cover art can actually be seen hanging in the background of the picture on the back of Girls Allowed. For more on the fate of the CD, I asked Paul Hansbury and Joe O’Rourke for some input:
Paul: Talking To The Dogs will arrive suddenly, without fanfare, and not on any scheduled campaign. When it is manufactured, it will likely contain many “label” links – but it will ultimately reside in boxes around my garage and cellar, as the first album does.
Joe: We recorded the disc back in ’04, but never released it. Maybe someday. We just love to get together and play – no one has any time to deal with releasing a disc. Sad but true.
Paul: And I live 100 miles away from Bob, Joe, Marcia and Mark now. Since 2004. When we manage to rehearse prior to a show, we usually are able to add a song or two – but often we must do the shows sans rehearsal. As long as we’ve been around, since ’95, we have never been about the typical rock band bullshit. As long as the other guys want to keep doing it, so will I.

Well, if they’re not putting out the new disc yet, how else can I make these guys prove themselves? Do you think they’d be up for some carnie-type test of their worth? Like fighting the wolf-faced boy in a cage match? Keep your pants on junior – how about we start with a live show? Yes, they don’t play as much as the old days now that they’re a bit geographically challenged – they alternate shows between the Basement (Northampton, MA) and the Brass Cat (Easthampton, MA). But you’re in luck, because they’re playing at the Basement this Friday night (December 12th) at 10 pm. If you’re from the area, the Basement is across the street from the Iron Horse and around back – in the old Table 9/Mulino’s building. Matt Hebert will play a solo opening set, then Treefort promises at least two sets and the possibility of a holiday classic. Come see the boys hang 20 years of sorrow and sarcasm on two guitars, bass, drums and “Look ma, no hands!” recklessness. Girls allowed.

For the most up-to-date info on Treefort, check out their MySpace page. And come show them some love on Friday night...

(A big thanks to Paul Hansbury and Joe O'Rourke for helping me put this together.)