Breaking the mold:

One of their instruments is a Ford gas tank with one string. They sing about cars dying and about moving cross-country in trailers. Their music can be described as bluegrass, alternative, country, punk and metal all rolled into one frantic yet carefully crafted ball. They call themselves Split Lip Rayfield, and they're coming to your town.\nFor the past five years, the Kansas-based quartet -- comprised of Kirk Rundstrom on acoustic guitar, Eric Mardis on banjo, Wayne Gottstine on mandolin and Jeff Eaton on bass -- has enjoyed a multitude of live performances as well as three studio albums.\n"We do about 80 shows a year, and we go a few weeks at a time," Gottstine says.\nStarting today the group will embark on an 11-show Midwestern tour, including a stop at the Bluebird Nightclub here in B-Town on Monday along with bands Nashville Pussy and The Reverend Horton Heat.\nMuch like the single-stringed gas tank bass referred to by the band as the "Stitchgiver," the band presents something that is both familiar and altogether foreign. "I think we do have an original sound," Gottstine says. "It doesn't bother me to be labeled anything, but we don't get many comparisons." \nWhat the group produces live and what can be heard on their third studio effort titled Never Make it Home is indeed an original, quirky combination of songs that leaves listeners flabbergasted.\nIt is a sound that combines lightening-fast time changes and finger picking that would leave even heavy metal gurus scratching their heads in confusion. They're fast and they're furious, so much so that you'll want to hear each song twice just to make sure you caught everything.\n"The live show is aggressive," Gottstine says. "A lot of that comes from Jeff's bass. People might not know what to think since there are no drums or percussion." \nRegardless, the guys certainly keep things busy with their upbeat rhythms and four-part harmonies. \nGottstine adds that during live shows Eaton dons a metal bracelet while plucking away furiously at his Stitchgiver. It clinks and clanks against the string in auspicious time with the songs adding somewhat of a percussive element to the overall sound. \nWhen asked about the origin of the unusual instrument, Eaton says that its creation was something of an accident. "It was made before the band had even begun," he says. "I was wanting to build a washtub bass (a more commonly used makeshift instrument used to produce a lower-ended sound). But I didn't have a washtub, so I used a gas tank instead." \nRob Miller, co-owner of the band's record label Bloodshot Records, seems to think that while grounded in bluegrass, the sound's originality comes naturally. "It's all in the background. They are not burdened by history, protocol or a rule book about what is allowed in bluegrass. They throw bits of punk, metal and other scary (to steady bluegrass folk) musical bits into their stew and it comes out 'bluegrass,' but with a definite sense, however intangible, of newness," he says.\nMiller maintains that with Never Make it Home, Split Lip Rayfield has achieved new musical ground. "I think the first two records failed to convey the power of their live shows," he says. "Their most recent record was a wonderful representation of their songwriting and their awesome musical chops -- I think it obliterated the notion that some had that they were a novelty act."\nGottstine enjoys the energy that live performances can generate, but is especially enthusiastic about what studio time is doing for the quartet's unique sound. "The grind of touring is kind of rugged at times. I love recording probably more than anything. I enjoy dissecting a song and making it sound just how we want. Playing live is great though, because you get to feed off people."\nWhile on tour, the band plans to play material from its previous two albums as well as the newer tracks from Never Make it Home. The songs are very tongue-in-cheek and often offer harebrained looks at loneliness, relationships and alcohol with lines such as: "Well I had a chance to be someone I'd never been before/Took his clothes and wallet and I left him on the floor." \nLast June, the band toured for a week with the local bluegrass/southern rock group Crooked Country. Merrie Sloan, who provides vocals, upright bass and occasional guitar for the band, says, "I have heard it called many things...speedbilly, killbilly, definitely bluegrass-country infused--when you sing about that much drinking and heartbreak. It is difficult to take those old laments of broken hearts and broken dreams to do something 'really' new with them. These guys obviously have worked hard at their art." \nAfter the upcoming tour, the group will make an appearance on a compilation album of children's songs that Bloodshot Records plans to release this summer. The album is tentatively titled The Bottle Let Me Down. After that they plan to head into the studio to record material for a new record.\nEaton says that taking their musical life day by day is the most important thing for the quartet. "We don't really have a master plan," he says. "We just do what we do and keep playing."\nSo for those of you that are used to music being comfortably housed under conveniently labeled genres and categories -- hold on for a bumpy ride, because after seeing Split Lip Rayfield, you might "never make it home" again. \nSplit Lip Rayfield, Nashville Pussy and The Reverend Horton Heat will appear on Monday at the Bluebird Nightclub. The show is 21-and-over.