Gypsy River Haunts Are Country Boys in the Big City

By Kai Flanders Thu., Sep. 13 2012 at 8:48 AM

If David Allan Coe's "If That Aint Country" comes on after Andy Sheppard has had more than a few Coors Lights (his favorite brand), he'll sing along without reservation to the line: Tryin' like the devil to find the Lord / Workin' like a nigger for my room and board. The 24-year old lead singer of Gypsy River Haunts, who plays ghostly, rollicking Western music, may have incredibly poor taste in the lyrics he quotes, but he's more country than racist.

Both he and guitarist Dustin Hollenbeck are L.A. transplants by way of Idaho. Speaking with them in the upstairs room of the Echo as rockers in cowboy hats jam downstairs, their pastoral roots show. Sheppard, who is small with shoulder-length hair, wears horn-rimmed glasses and jade bracelets, uses words like "spooker" (an affecting song) and writes songs with titles like "Rattlesnake Railroad." He lives in a studio without a kitchen sink and does all his dishes "pup style."

Hollenbeck says that L.A. can provide a fresh insight into the country way of life. "When I was 17 I wanted to get out of that area just because I had grown up there," he says. "But when I got here I realized how much I actually loved it." He seems nostalgic about tractors being used as transportation and high-school parties where they would steal as many wooden crates as they could from behind grocery stores and then drive out to canyons to have giant bonfires.

"Getting drunk at 12 and jumping over bonfires," Sheppard interjects merrily.

"Yeah," continues Hollenbeck, "every now and then someone would sorta kinda fall in the fire. It ends badly." Throughout these remembrances the other two members of the Haunts, drummer Nic Morreale and standup bassist Johnny Latu, are smiling and silent. (They're from California, after all.) But for some reason two ragtag ramblers from Idaho and two guys from the Valley hit it off musically right away. "Within the first couple notes we figured out we were going to play music together," says Latu.

The Haunts latest EP, Forgive Me, recorded in two days at Bedrock Studios in Echo Park and released in August, is a juxtaposition of uplifting tracks and booze-drenched melancholy. The theme of alcoholism is heavy in the Haunts' music, as it is in a lot of country music. "It's a very roots thing to drink ... down there they go to church drunk," says Sheppard. "It's a vice that helps you write in a more honest way."

Tags:

Country, Gypsy River Haunts, Kai Flanders

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a.skwee

To whom it may concern,

Normally, I don not partake in discussing things of any controversy on the internet. But as the fellows in the Gypsy River Haunts are my friends, I feel I should say something. With all due respect to LA Weekly and Mr. Kai Flanders, this article is a sham.

In no way is Andy Sheppard, no matter how subtly implied, a racist. To call him one, is outright slander. It is fraudulent in every way, and I hoped that LA Weekly would have more self-respect than to publish such fiction and claim it as true.

Gypsy River Haunts are a gift to Los Angeles. I for one am extremely happy that they are here with us and not in Nashville where Mr. Flanders feels all country acts should go in order to find success. Success is indeed imminent for the Haunts, as THEY are one of the most talented groups in LA without a record label.

I humbly request that LA Weekly restore the good name of Andy Sheppard and the Gypsy River Haunts by submitting a retraction of this article. While I'm sure that LA Weekly could not care less about ONE citizen's requests, I will be boycotting LA Weekly until said retraction is printed. I hope that others reading this article will wait to meet the boys and see them perform before they make any judgments about their character.

Sincerely,

Anders Skwee