A trippy trio from Columbia, Missouri, the Hooten Hallers are all about being different from your average Americana group. Using interesting instrumentation that includes John Randall (vocals, guitar), Andy Rehm (vocals, drums) and Kellie Everett (baritone, bass saxophones), they base their music on traditional American styles, yet add twists and turns from vociferous vocals to raucous riffs and all kinds of dark and demented sounds in between. As stated in the press material, the band’s influences “range from pre-war blues to punk rock to dark Americana, with a thematic penchant for the strange and the unexplained,” and that’s only the beginning. After some 10 years of nearly constant touring, playing music and being on the scene straddling DIY punk and American roots music, last spring the group released an album produced by Johnny Walker (Soledad Brothers, All Seeing Eyes) and Kristo Baricevic (head of their label Big Muddy Records) that showcases increased musicianship and songwriting prowess gained during the last decade of making music together on the road