SongVault Artist Profile

Hailing from the backwoods of Vermont's Connecticut River Valley, Pariah Beat plays a punk infused blend of blues, country and old time roots music.

Pariah Beat inhabits a realm where Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, the Pogues, Tom Waits, Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Django Reinhardt, the Clash, Elvis Presley and Robert Johnson can stand together without contradiction. We play down and dirty party music - rowdy, rootsy, and serious fun. Described as "a dirt-encrusted buzzsaw from the past, moving forward with the weight of a freight train behind them," we take that sentiment to heart, rooting the tunes we play and the stories we tell firmly in the now. We are not a gimmick, and our music is not reenactment.

We can be found in various incarnations in New England's bars, rest areas and street corners. The Pariah quorum is one, and membership is fluid. One part soul, one part gypsy and one part faith, Pariah Beat always brings something to the party, whether it's fiddle, washboard, accordion, guitar, drums, bass, barrelhouse piano or all of the above. Through fist fights and drunken nights one thing has remained constant – every body sings, and every body dances.

On a shoe string budget, Pariah Beat has spread the good word across New England, and down the Eastern Seaboard line. Releasing their Original Sin EP in the summer of 2006, Pariah Beat has hit the ground running, playing over 90 shows in the year and a half that have followed. The summer months of 2007 marked Pariah Beat's first birthday, and they celebrated with the self release of their first full length album.

Over the fall of 2007, Pariah has digitally released the Babylon Is Fallen EP through the band's myspace account. The EP's five songs offer an expanded musical pallet, whilst honing in on the strengths of the band's previous work. "Babylon Is Fallen", the EP's title track, delivers an accordion and fiddle driven injection of adrenalin into an age old Shaker hymn, whilst singer Justin Bendel howls, "Now the day so long expected, now the hour of full release. Zion's walls have been erected, and her watchmen publish peace. The trumpet loudly sounds, the troops are on the ground." Biblical Babylon is similarly recast as modern day Iraq in the Americana tinged protest song "Come On In." The country influence continues through "Front Porch", a banjo-fueled barn burner in which a whiskey-laden narrator delivers a succinct summation of the American experience: "Chance the dog, she's a dirty slob, just licking herself happily... but I kind of envy her, 'cause she's living the American Dream." "Tipperary" features Justin Bendel and Emily Eastridge playfully duetting about Jesus Christ and union jobs, while the band lays down a wild gypsy romp. "Love the Pain" rounds out the EP, swirling strings and a brass section complimenting Billy Sharff's dark vocal performance.

Extending the momentum into the New Year, Pariah Beat will be undertaking their second East Coast tour. Pariah Beat will be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, before returning home by way of Chicago.

Featured in the Boston Weekly Dig's 2007 "Six Worthies you Might Run into on the T" Local Music Issue, Pariah Beat was described as a band "wielding an arsenal of ferociously catchy made-for-drinking tunes fixed in Americana and gospel, yet delivered with punk vigor, they're somewhere between a musical collective and a carnival troupe." Kicked out of North Carolina for conduct unbecoming of a rock n roll band and warned to stay out of Chicago, the Pariah Train is a'rolling, and the conductor is punching tickets.

Love,

Pariah Beat

Instrumentation
Billy Sharff - Fiddle, Vocals, Guitar and Keyboards
Justin Bendel - Vocals, Accordion and Harmonica
Emily Eastridge - Bass, Vocals
James McHugh - Drums, Vocals
Nick Charyk - Guitar, Vocals

Discography
Original Sin EP - self released, 2006
1. Temporary Love
2. Don't Ya Know?
3. Ghost Town
4. Take A Walk
5. Redemption

Pariah Beat LP - self released, 2007
1. Prisoners
2. I'll Take the Drink
3. Don't Ya Know?
4. I Have Seen the Light
5. I Believe
6. Temporary Love
7. Christopher Tear it Down
8. No Way
9. Waltz
10. Sunday Morning
11. Our Time Will Come
12. Take A Walk
13. Redemption

Babylon Is Fallen 10 Song EP - self released, 2008
1. Babylon is Fallen
2. Come On In
3. Leavin'
4. Front Porch
5. Tipperary
6. Don't You Think About Me
7. I Overheard (You Were Over Her)
8. Love the Pain
9. H-Bomb
10. Broken Shoes