Harry & the Hootenannies

Hopscotching across tropes from ska, folk, pop, alt-rock and more, Columbia’s Harry & the Hootenannies’ still manage to find the hooks at the core of its songs on the rangy Farewelcome Home, using sweet choruses and bouncy rhythms to propel clever wordplay and poignant commentary with equal irreverence. — Bryan C. Reed - Free Times

Harry and the Hootenannies take folk music to a new level with their genre-bending electric mandolin and psychedelic rock 'n’ folk sound.
Harry Braswell, Ben Wescott and Nick Woehrle, all University of South Carolina graduates, have been jamming together for about three years as a band. Woehrle and Wescott met in a bagel shop in Columbia, and their friendship grew as they took classes together, soon meeting Braswell to become a trio.
At the time, Braswell was working on a solo project — a concept album inspired by a car accident he had survived. Wescott helped to record a few of Braswell’s demos, and Woehlre moved in with Braswell around the same time. Thus, Harry and the Hootenannies were born.
All three would become roommates. Their time in Columbia, and specifically the time the group spent living together, is the source for many of the songs in their debut album, "Farewelcome Home." One song, “Raid,” is inspired by South Carolina’s infamous palmetto bugs.
“I had written this kind of metal riff, and was like, we need to figure out something to sing along with it,” Braswell said. “I was stepping all on my distortion pedal, and there was a cockroach crawling all over it.”
Braswell grabbed a bottle of Raid, and the lyrics are a reimagined version of the side of the can.
The group also explores their romantic experiences in their music. The song "Salt or Pepper" was inspired by a girlfriend who had been living with them.
“When we had to inevitably kick her out, her dad came to help unload her stuff ... [he] decided to cast a spell on our house by sprinkling salt all across the floor,” Braswell said. “There’s a whole section about dealing with emotions and dealing with them gently, without leaving salt on the floor.”
While their lyrics have been affected by their personal experiences in Columbia and beyond, their musical style is influenced by much more. Braswell cites Flight of the Conchords, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thundercat and Nirvana as influences. The group also has a deep respect for Lady Gaga, often performing covers of her songs. With elements of folk, jazz, rock ‘n' roll and rhythm and blues, Harry and the Hootenannies ensures that no two of their songs will sound the same.
As the semester begins, the band encourages everyone to take their own “vacation," and to take a deep breath.
“A lot of the messages in this album and in the songs we play are about how everybody needs to take a little bit of time off,” said Braswell. “You will go crazy if you don’t take it easy.” - The Daily Gamecock

When it comes to checking out new bands, usually, throughout the prelude you’ll sit in a state of vacant cynicism, waiting to make your verdict. However, the latest track by the Psychedelic Folk aficionados Harry & the Hootenannies “Fast Lane” has you feeling the rhythm in just the first few muted mandolin notes of the prelude before the track explodes into infectiously magnetic catharsis.

But you don’t have to wait for long before the slaps of the 5-string bass fade in which will enamour any fans of Mr Bungle. There’s a gloriously mechanical clockwork rhythm to the instrumentals, the choppy and chunky riffs are just as infectious as what you get from Queens of the Stone Age, but there’s a far quainter appeal to the sound of Harry & the Hootenannies. The majority of the quintessential charm of the single falls down to the vocals from Harry Braswell. - A & R Factory

Before Jump, Little Children shaped
themselves into a stately and colossally subtle
pop-rock band, they spent years charming
regional audiences (and busking in the
streets of Charleston) with a repertoire that
took a rousing and unconventional approach
to pop and folk. Columbia trio Harry and
the Hootenannies do the same, deploying
unorthodox instruments (electric mandolin)
and eccentric approaches to a range of musics
— the joke-metally “Raide!”, the delicate bossa
nova “World Keeps Spinning,” the stompfolk-with-a-rap-breakdown
“Fluoxetine” — in search of a good time. With Iron Fist, Riverbaby
Bathwater Revival, Kelly McLachlan.
— Patrick Wall - Free Times, Columbia SC

Harry & the Hootenannies
get breezier than normal with their February
single “Get Sturdy,” which features slide
strings that bring Hawaiian surf sounds and
laid-back vocals. They’re The Grateful Dead
backing Primus, contrasting their brash
weirdness and somber but serious experimentation
on six-string bass, and varying
strumming instruments on prior releases.
The Haves will bring that gonzo punk to the
night as well. The two bands share Primus’
influence; The Haves have more rage. With
Never I, Angels Among Ashes, Pleasure to
Burn. — David Travis Bland - Free Times Columbia, SC

The just-released new arrangement the of Harry
and the Hootenannies’ song “Fast Lane”
sounds as if you’ve just huffed a nitrous
balloon and stumbled into a big top circus.
Dissonant mandolin chords sit nervously atop
a punchy bass line that ambles back and forth.
People watching might be as entertaining as
the music at this show, as your stereotypical craft beer bro might not be ready for the
Columbia group’s Primus-influenced freak
folk. — Cam Powell - Free Times