Ypsilanti’s Black Jake & the Carnies are performing live this week at Bank of Ann Arbor’s Sonic Lunch in downtown’s Liberty Plaza. As the Brothers Grimm approached folklore, Black Jake & the Carnies approach bluegrass music with a darker take, creating a genre that they call ‘crabgrass’. In the Detroit Metro Times Brett Callwood describes this unique sound as “bluegrass-inspired cow punk with Floggy Milly-eqaue Irish punk rock”. Since their 2002 Halloween debut, Black Jake & the Carnies have achieved national and international success.  In 2008 the band released their first album Where The Heather Don’t Grow, which was followed by last year’s Sundry Mahems that includes a 24-page sing-a-long insert, complete with lyrics and original paintings by Black Jake himself.

This Thursday enjoy food by Pizza House alongside RoosRoast beverages and spend the lunch hour with Black Jake & the Carnies, the original Kings of Crabgrass.

Here’s a fun video from the early days of iSPY Magazine, shot on the balcony at Ann Arbor’s Circus:

Black Jake and the Carnies from iSPY Magazine on Vimeo.