Hillstomp - Portland, Ore (2014)

Drawing heavily from north Mississippi trance blues, a bit from the hills of Appalachia and stealing energy from punkabilly, Portland Oregon duo Hillstomp create a raucous hill-country blues-stomp with a fiery youth and vigor. It comes clanging and tumbling out of an assortment of vintage mics, buckets, cans and BBQ lids drenched in rambunctious slide guitar.
In the spring of 2001, Hillstomp was born in a basement (of course) in Portland, OR. It was the bastard child of Henry Kammerer and John Johnson's mutual need to make music and drink beer. Within a few weeks the Guitar/"Drum" duo played their first open mic to a rousing and slightly scary response. Unfortunately, John's drumset (cardboard box, plastic bucket and Weber grill lid) didn't survive the ordeal, so the pair went back under the basement stairs to build some new drums and practice.
In June 2002, Hillstomp emerged from the dust and dark with a visceral music that makes you want to stomp your feet, shake your butt and love your neighbor. Whether playing original songs, traditionals, or the occasional revamped blues classic, Hillstomp has duct-taped together a distinctive sound that quickly bubbled upward in Portland's roots, blues and alternative-music circles. Their do-it-yourself brand of minimal gothic junkbox blues differs drastically from the 12-bar blues style listened to by your uncle. A whole different approach.