HILLBILLY music and the raucous rock'n'roll of AC/ DC would not normally be mentioned in the same sentence.
But somehow Hayseed Dixie has managed to intertwine the two and establish an enviable career in the process by playing bizarre bluegrass versions of AC/DC songs.
Now with four albums under their belt and an appearance at this year's Glastonbury festival in the UK, Hayseed Dixie has brought its unlikely style of music back to Australian shores for the first full-scale national tour since 2003.
Comprising Barley Scotch (vocals, guitar and fiddle), Don Wayne Reno (banjo), Dale Reno (mandolin) and Jason D. Smith (bass), Hayseed Dixie will roll into Newcastle for a foot- stomping show at the Cambridge Hotel on Tuesday night.
``I think we all really can play pretty well. We have all been doing it for 30-something years since we were little kids,'' Scotch said.
``Sure, there is a comedy aspect to the act, but when Angus Young is out there running around in a pair of school pants, there is a comedy aspect to that too. Or when Gene Simmons is up there like a demon spitting blood and half the damn stage is blowing up.'' It's not just AC/DC that get a re-working.
Bands like Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Queen and Motorhead have also undergone the Hayseed Dixie makeover, most recently on their album A Hot Piece of Grass. According to Wheeler there must be four key elements of a song in order for the band to be interested: drinking, cheating, killing and hell.
``Any song about that subject matter, whether we wrote it or someone else did, is a candidate for playing. And if you can find a song with all four key elements in it, like Highway to Hell , you have a damn classic,'' Scotch said.
``No-one is going to sing about their deep, poetic soul or staring at their shoes in this band, that's girly stuff, man.'' Tickets to the show are on sale at the venue, Beaumont Street Beat, The Rock Shop, Soundworld and online at bigtix.com.au
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