Gaining traction with their brand of trashgrass n’ blues, the Tejon Street Corner Thieves out of Colorado Springs step into the spotlight with their latest tribute to traditional Americana and folk music, Stolen Goods. Released on May 7 via Liar’s Club Records/Regime Music Group, Stolen Goods sees the band preserving a collection of antique songs that have been passed down for well over a hundred years, reconditioned with the band’s animated liveliness.
Known to pray at the altar of firewater and suds, the Tejon Street Corner Thieves have spent the past six years or so, delivering banjo-infused drinkin’ songs. The band’s bar stool-style blues, often expressed through the filter of a Jim Beam bottle, is rooted in classic country, folk, and bluegrass music, with a punk rock frame of mind. At times their sound is upbeat, other times somber, but always full of liquid courage, allowing for their pain and honesty to come to the forefront of the music.
With their 2017 full-length, Goers, the TSCT wrote some soulful numbers, fully saturated in hooch. Tracks like “Goers,” “Home,” and “Short Glass,” came across heartfelt, fun, and catchy. Throughout the course of their discography, the band has kept some longtime Americana folk songs such as, “Sugar Hill” and “Deal Rag,” in playing rotation. However, with Stolen Goods, the band decided to fully expose their roots with a full, 10-song track list.
Stolen Goods is the bands effort to preserve classic, traditional songs that have been passed down for generations. With roots that can be traced back to as early as the mid-1800s, the TSCT connect a bridge from some of the most essential moments in music history to the present day. A connection that pays homage to the songs that are a part of the band’s foundation, and many other artists throughout American history.
Songs heard on Stolen Goods such as, “Crawdad,” “Five Foot Two,” and “Keep It Clean,” can be traced back to artists like Woody Guthrie, Sam M. Lewis, Ray Henderson & Joseph Young, and Charley Jordan, online. These selections of songs that have been performed by a variety of artists over the last century, receive a revitalizing zest from the TSCT.
The hootenanny continues with the mischievous “Greasy Coat” and the fiddling “Rollin in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” which both get a sweet sounding production makeover. Not to mention, a full band treatment that includes harmonious vocal layering, thumpin’ upright bass, and the galloping click of the washboard. Even the childhood classic, “Down By the Bay,” receives a grown-upgrade that will require you to wash your mouth out with soap once it concludes. That is, if you choose to sing a long, and it’s very hard not to.
In the recent past, the band has been collecting awards around their local community of Colorado Springs such as, Pikes Peak Arts Council: Best In Show (2017) and CS Independent: Best Original Band (2018). It’s easy to recognize the groups exceptional ability to play tightly together, and there is a strong type of joy that radiates from these old-timey selections. With Stolen Goods, the Tejon Street Corner Thieves not only commemorate the artists and songs that came long before them, but also offer a sturdy restoration to the creaking classics.
Stolen Goods track list:
1. Wayfaring Stranger
2. Crawdad
3. Deal Rag
4. Down By the Bay
5. Five Foot Two
6. Greasy Coat
7. Keep It Clean
8. Mobile Line
9. Rollin In My Sweet Baby’s Arms
10. Sugar Hill