Childhood friends rock on in Chuch

You don’t typically hear Black Sabbath and Willie Nelson mentioned in the same sentence. Then again, you don’t typically part ways with your childhood friends after high school, only to reunite seven years later in a different town and a different state and form an awesome country rock band.

Chuch does and did both of those things. The band members, now based out of Burlington, Vt., have known one another since grade school, growing up in a small Pennsylvania town. They list bands as diverse as Little Feat, avant-metal heroes Neurosis, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the Stones as influences.

Matt Hayes, pedal steel guitarist and dobro player, tells their story.

“I was living in Pennsylvania and really wanted to get out of there,” he said. “I camped out in Vermont one year and loved it, so I convinced our guitarist [Chad Hammaker], who was moving back from California, so I convinced him to move to Burlington with me.”

Drummer Justin Crowther and his brother, bassist Noah Crowther, followed suit in a few years.

“[Chad and I] started out doing acoustic gigs around town, playing mandolin and stuff,” Hayes said. “When everyone else joined on we started playing the kind of stuff we’re doing now.”

Chuch’s rollicking brand of country-fied rock combines distinct harmonies with Hayes’ soulful lap- and-pedal steel guitars. Hayes, a longtime guitarist, has always loved slide guitar, but it was an unlucky accident that brought him to lap and pedal steel.

“I got in an accident one year, and lost part of my finger,” Hayes said. “Right after that I saw the Blind Boys of Alabama play, and I’d never seen pedal steel played like that. I jumped right over to it, and it worked really well ’cause I couldn’t play guitar for a while because of the accident.”

Hayes’ playing distinguishes them from many bands out there, but it’s not just that high, singing steel guitar sound – drummer Justin Crowther, a big metal and hardcore fan, adds an edgy, harder element.

“He’s pushed us to add that harder side,” Hayes said,

“and I think it meshes well. There’s a depth to the sound. There’s a low bottom end but

a nice, high harmony.”

Live, the band promises to be a fun, relaxed, but musically tight experience. The band is in the process of recording a full-length, debut album, and they’ve already shared the stage with rockabilly and alt-country luminaries such as Southern Culture on the Skids and Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers. You can see them this weekend at Gilbert’s in Camden, their second gig in Maine. If you like a little country with your rock ‘n’ roll, it just might be the place to be tonight.

Chuch plays tonight at Gilbert’s Publick House on Bayview Street in Camden. Doors open around 7 p.m.; call 236-4320 for further details. For more info on Chuch, visit www.chuchtheband.com. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.