The Power of One

(Photo of Phil Roebuck at The Boot by Jim Roberts)

Phillip Roebuck makes music of awesome, primal beauty. The plinky rattle of his $22 banjo and the blues rasp in his voice combine to make something special. But you should also take into consideration the fact that he sings and plays banjo while also playing a bass drum and tambourine that's strapped to his back. That last part would seem like a gimmick if Roebuck's one-man-band sound wasn't so powerful. I saw Phillip do his thing at The Boot this past Wednesday and I'm still thinking about how great it was. I had been hearing rumblings -- including one mention in a South By Southwest roundup a few weeks ago -- but I didn't really understand the force of his solo playing until I saw it in person.

It's not just a neat trick. The guy is really good at doing four things at once. He reminds me of The Avett Brothers -- if they were distilled to one person instead of three.

After his set, Phillip told me that he divides his time between Hampton Roads and New York City. His family is here. I guess the opportunities are there. I've read he's considered one of NYC's best subway performers.

The last time I heard Phillip play music, he was still in the powerpop group The Hollowbodies, a band with roots here in Hampton Roads. I may be mistaken, but the last time I remember seeing that band was at the East Coast Surfing Championships at Virginia Beach years ago. His strong singing and gift for melody always impressed me.

Hearing him again -- and applying his talents to a sort of punk-folk sound-- was wonderful.

I'm just catching up to all this, but it turns out that he's recorded four CDs as a one man band, the most recent two were recorded by rock production hero Steve Albini.

At The Boot show, I picked up his newest, "Fever Pitch" which has a copyright date of 2006. On it, Phillip sounds like some kind of weird backwoods hybrid: part hillbilly, part grizzled blues man, part rock 'n' roller. Most of all, though, he sounds good.