American Murder Song

Told you before: I long ago pledged my allegiance to The Old, Weird America:

…a world of snake-handlin’ men and violent misfits; suicides and spike-drivin’ heroes. Bluesmen and bandits. Adulterers and the women who shoot them. Men who walk through life with a red right hand. Stuff you find in Cormac McCarthy or Joe R. Lansdale novels.

Well, I’ve got you some new old, weird America for you. My fellow Frontier Partisans, I give you…

It’s Music, Blood & History, Darlin’

From Wiki:

American Murder Song (sometime abbreviated AMS) is an American musical act founded in 2016 by cult filmcomposers and performers Terrance Zdunich and Saar Hendelman. The project uses the murder ballad genre to explore American history, especially 19th century America.

In American Murder Song, Saar and Terrance play the role of roguish balladeers Mister Storm and Mister Tender who make a pact with the bible’s Cain to chronicle the tales of killers, known as Survivors, who bear The Mark, an American Mark of Cain.

By way of live shows, music videos and albums, American Murder Song has so far explored 1816, also known as “The Year Without a Summer,” and The Donner Party’s deadly journey of 1846.

It’s weird, alright. Hell, it’s bizarre — a kind of folk cabaret. I am fascinated.

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The six-pointed navigation device used by Messrs. Storm and Tender to seek out and locate American murder. Branded with The Mark Of Cain, this ancient instrument points west from the 13 colonies towards bloody expansion and murd’rous deeds.

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These guys may be having too much fun chasing their American Murder Song:

In March 2017, they took a research and writing road trip where they followed the historical trail that the Donner Party took in 1846, inviting fans to participate in the journey with them via live video streams.

I mean, seriously — The Donner Party Reunion Tour?

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