The Duhks, Spotted Mallard, 6th January 2016

The Duhks are an interesting band – made up of Canadian, American & Swedish members.
Singer/banjo player Leonard Podolak describes their form of music as inspired by “everything from Traditional Fiddle music from around the world, Irish, Appalachian, Cajun, Quececois, Scottish, to Gospel from The Georgia Sea Islands, to Dub-Step. Rock and Roll, and everything in between.”

The band came onstage and immediately got people up and dancing. A couple of songs in an enthusiastic jam lead to the guitarist losing not one, but two strings. While he was replacing them Podolak told stories and led the audience in a “hambone” lesson (basically, slapping the thighs).

Although I’d never seen the band before, there was something about them that felt incredibly familiar. Perhaps it was just the feeling of watching a group of skilled musicians enjoying the hell out of themselves onstage and sharing that with the audience.

Highly recommended. Go and see the Duhks when they return to Australia.