The Serpentones Bring Glam Rockabilly To Bar Chord

When the Serpentones appear at Bar Chord Friday night, it will be a return stop on a journey that took them from Coney Island to Ditmas Park via Talkeetna, Alaska. The band is fronted by Sean Kershaw, who was the Village Voice’s cover boy for “Brooklyn country” in 2009.

The Serpentones draw on the rockabilly tradition, but also embrace glam, Memphis soul, ska and more to deliver “sleazy, greazy, rock’n’roll so loud you will lose your mind” Kershaw promised. (The group definitely benefits from hip hop’s gift to rock, the idea that all the music of the 20th century is a treasure chest to be cheerfully looted by artists building something original and personal out of our shared culture.)

The Serpentones’ power comes from the band’s ability to find a groove and lock tight into it, a talent honed when the core of the group worked as the Mean Streaks GoGo Revue, playing mostly instrumentals to back up go-go dancers at weekly gigs at Cha-Cha’s of Coney Island. That got Kershaw, who’d been playing mostly acoustic for several years, to crank up his electric guitar again, trading licks with sax player Chuck “Raven” Hancock, who Kershaw calls “a heavy cat and certified madman.”

Like Kershaw, Hancock is a veteran of the New York City music scene, including a notable stint with the legendary Murphy’s Law, who helped define NY Hardcore in the late 80s. The two musicians clicked immediately in their Coney Island residency. “The gig was so hot that Cha-Cha decided to keep us through the fall and winter (pretty unusual for a beach gig) but then Superstorm Sandy hit and devastated the club, along with all my gear,” Kershaw recalled.

Kershaw and Hancock wanted to find a way to harness the energy they had cultivated while working among burlesque dancers and sideshow freaks. They recruited drummer Dave Dawson and Kentucky Parkis to play bass and share vocals with Kershaw and started working as a four-piece rock band.

There was plenty of history in the band—Kershaw by himself has recorded rockabilly with the Blind Pharaohs, country and alt-country with the New Jack Ramblers, and rock material on his “Aussie Sessions.” Hancock is heir to three decades of punk and hardcore, and Dawson was recently inducted into the NY Blues Hall of Fame.

The band went on the road to work out the details, which included that tour of Alaska. By the time they got back to Brooklyn, the Serpentones sound was all their own, even as it shows its roots. And if the music alone isn’t enough to grab the attention of jaded barflies, Kershaw has a few tricks up his sleeve as well. “If universal cell phone cameras and YouTube had been around when the Blind Pharaohs were playing crazy shows at CBGB, in Coney Island and festivals like Heavy Rebel Weekender and Sleazefest, we might already be viral video sensations. Maybe I’ll bring the flaming guitar back. Or the mud wrestling. Or both.”

From Kershaw’s perspective, now is a geat time to be playing rock’n’roll in Brooklyn. “The good old days were partially remarkable for how few venues and few bands there actually were. While it’s sometimes a struggle for an individual act to get a crowd to shows, the environment for music nowadays is better than ever and it’s frequently a pleasure to dive in and expose yourself to a whole new scene.”

He’s especially excited to be bringing the Serpentones back to Bar Chord. “We love Bar Chord, performing there and hanging out. It’s one of the few places in the five boroughs that’s 100 percent about the music.”

The Serpentones bring “Rock & Soul/Glam/Rockabilly” to Bar Chord at 9pm on Friday, November 6. There’s no cover, so be sure to tip the band!