"Working Poor" by Horse Feathers

Unfortunately, blogging has been an afterthought for me recently.  In late June I made a decision to  leave my current job, move, take a different job, and become a full-time student again.  It was a crazy July and August, but I feel like the dust is starting to settle, and I'm planning on getting back to blogging in September.

I have also been inspired because some dear friends at my last job gave me a very generous itunes gift card and this past week I made good use of that card to get into some new music (new music to me that is).  I had heard a little bit of Horse Feathers, but wasn't very familiar and wouldn't have called myself a fan a week ago.  When I was deciding on some new music a friend thought that I would really like Horse Feathers so I gave them a shot.  

The band has a great earthy gentle sound, fitting of their Idohan roots.  This is an album that I am excited to listen to as we usher in the fall in Pittsburgh.  I cant wait for brisk morning walks to work, holding a nice warm cup of coffee on the BFCAT porch, and seeing the leaves change colors in Beaver Falls.  I love the fall, and the idea of mellow foggy mornings with a band like Horse Feathers sounds great.  The band has had a little bit of a rotating lineup, even with some changes since the album "House With No Home" came out in 2008 (the album that features "Working Poor"). They released an album with the current lineup in 2010 called "Thistled Spring" with a more upbeat springy sound, but this album is great to usher in a little colder weather.

I like the song "Working Poor" because even though it has a very depressing fatalistic vibe with lyrics about being poor and abused by people with power, they sing it all with a very content and even happy vibe that suggests they wouldn't change a thing if they had the choice.  At several points in the song they even say "what failure gave us suits our taste."  If you like simple acoustic singer songwriters, you'll enjoy Justing Ringle and Horse Feathers for sure.  As a new appreciator of their music, I certainly don't have them all figured out yet, but I'm intrigued.  Even little things like how "Horse Feathers" is also the name of a Marx brothers comedy about college football sparks my interest into what makes this band tick.  So, I hope you enjoy this band carrying on in the flannel clad, strings based, Americana loving folk music strand.

This video is their NPR Tiny Desk Concert.  The first song is "Working Poor" followed by a real gem in "Curs in the Weeds" and finished up with "Heathen's Kiss."