PORT TOWNSEND — “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” the Temptations’ chart-topping song from 1972, might not be the first thing you’d expect from a country-bluegrass band like FarmStrong.
But Jim Faddis, he of the high-lonesome voice, had thought about it a long time.
“Let’s try this,” he said to the band one night.
They did, and in gigs over the past year, “Papa” has set FarmStrong apart. Over and again, it stirs up audiences, as John Pyles’ ocean-deep bass, Rick Meade’s Dobro and Faddis’ and Cort Armstrong’s vocal harmonies turn the song into soul-grass.
And “Papa,” alongside country, blues and folk from the likes of Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and Delbert McClinton, will be on the agenda as FarmStrong arrives for its first concert in Port Townsend this Sunday at the Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St.
Tickets are $15 via 360-385-KCPT (5278) and www.keycitypublictheatre.org. Show time is 7:30 p.m., and if there are any left by Sunday night, tickets will be sold at the door.
The quartet, which has played brewpubs, a wine bar and various community centers, returned recently from the Far West Folk Alliance conference in Oakland, Calif., where, Faddis said, their showcase performances went over well.
Between last spring and this fall, FarmStrong has been invited to several bluegrass festivals around the region, even if their music doesn’t stay inside that particular fence.
“We got together as bluegrass singers,” said Armstrong, “and ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’ was the snowball that turned into a giant snowball.
“We tried it, and people responded so much to it” that the FarmStrong men have since picked out some other unexpected numbers: “Drive,” the Cars’ 1984 hit among them.
The band is poised to record its second CD next month — the follow-up to 2013’s “FarmStrong: The Summer Sessions” — and Armstrong hopes for a January release. Songs such as The Band’s “Ophelia,” McClinton’s “Living It Down” and a new Faddis original, “How Many Times,” are candidates for the album.
“We’re just exploring all kinds of stuff,” said Faddis, who’s well-known to bluegrass fans for his years with the Prairie Flyer band.
“Seems like we’re getting a little bluesier,” he added.
FarmStrong, after all, doesn’t have the typical bluegrass instruments: no mandolin nor fiddle nor banjo.
The tight bluegrassy harmonies, however, have brought the band good reviews.
“Jim Faddis and Cort Armstrong are both strong, emotional singers, but together they establish a natural, brother-like chemistry,” Spokane Public Radio DJ Kevin Brown has said.
Humor is a big part of an evening with FarmStrong. “Let’s face it. We’re a cover band,” Armstrong said at a recent show.
“We’re taking a familiar song and translating it into our vision of it,” said Faddis.
“‘Drive’ is the one I really love right now . . . and ‘Ophelia’ is definitely one of my favorites right now,” added Faddis, who’s played in bands since the 1960s, when he was a high school kid and devout Bob Dylan fan in Delano, Calif.
Whether rock- or country-leaning, these songs are about breakups, love, loss and redemption. So the FarmStrong guys have a running joke about handing out “crying towels” to their audiences. These come in two colors: “blue and bluer” — which Armstrong said may well be the title of the new record.
To find out more, see www.FarmStrongMusic.com or phone Armstrong at 360-681-8553.
