The Red and Black

Issue date: 1/9/04 Section: Variety

Packway Handle Band will hold a CD release party for their new bluegrass album Saturday night at the Healing Arts Center on Prince Avenue. (Special * The Red & Black) [Click to enlarge]

In a world filled with hip-hop and loud rock music everywhere, sometimes finding something a little different can be refreshing.

The Packway Handle Band has just released an album, "Chaff Harvest," full of bluegrass music to offer relief from the sounds blasting out of car windows everywhere.

"It was sorting through all the waste and finding the good stuff," said Michael Paynter, mandolin player and vocalist for PHB.

To celebrate the release of the new recording, the band will play at a CD release party tomorrow night at the Healing Arts Center.

In addition to Paynter, the five piece band consists of Josh Erwin on guitar and vocals, Andrew Heaton on fiddle, Chris Holliday on the upright bass and Tom Baker on banjo and vocals.

"Our music has a contemporary sound with bluegrass as the base," Paynter said.

Holliday said some of the band's biggest influences are Bela Fleck, "Old and in the Way" and old-time bluegrass men like Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.

PACKWAY HANDLE BAND What: CD release party When: Saturday, 8 p.m. Where: Healing Arts Center on Prince Avenue Admission: $5 cover charge to be donated to the Healing Arts Center

Erwin said the new CD was recorded at two different studios: Musicfarm in Atlanta and Full Moon Studios in Watkinsville. The different studio environments led to different recording strategies. "The Full Moon stuff was done with more of a live feel," he said.

"Making the album was a learning experience," Baker said.

The band reached its current incarnation in the summer of 2003 when Heaton joined. PHB returned to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and competed in the finals for the second consecutive year. Heaton decided to join after taking a road trip to the festival with the band.

PHB achieved local notoriety for their victory in a Battle of the Bands in Athens. They were the only bluegrass outfit competing in the event. After the show, the band received some free recording time in Full Moon and free beer for a year.

Since then, they have opened for Confederate Railroad and the Yonder Mountain String Band.

Although Heaton recently suffered a broken finger, he has continued to play through the pain and will play Saturday night. Ed Hunter, fiddler for Blueground Undergrass who played with the band on the album, also will make an onstage appearance.

Several other guest musicians will play with the band this weekend including Todd Ferry, Perri Mason and Kevin Smith.

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