Some inner-city people see folk music as the unwanted bastard child of blues. ThaMuseMeant is not to be dismissed so easily.
"At present we are calling ourselves a string band, a sassy string band - tattooed folk," said mandolin player David Tiller.
The band split up after touring together nonstop for seven years. Before the break up they were described as acid folk, but after drummer Jeff Sussman decided to leave, the sound shifted to the present tattooed folk genre.
"We're basically acoustic that rocks out from time to time," said Tiller.
Now, ThaMuseMeant is regrouping after its three-year hiatus sans a drummer but with the addition of its newest member, Enion Pelta on the violin and fiddle.
"We actually broke up when things were starting to percolate for us, when things were going well," Tiller said. "We felt we needed a break, though. We had been a collective for so long."
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The break turned out to be for the best though. Bassist and co-vocalist, Aimee Curl, went to New York City for school and then to Ireland. Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, Nathan Moore, started up Frogville Records with partner John Treadwell. David Tiller went on to start another band called TAARKA, where he began playing with Enion Pelta. Three years later, the band came back together with overwhelming support from fans.
"We had a chance to establish our own identity and bring that together," Tiller said.
The band members actually found each other through busking - performing on the street for change in a hat.
"Busking was the way we made money playing music," Curl said. "We weren't anxious to make money any other way."
Nathan Moore came across Tiller and the band's co-vocalist, Aimee Curl, on an Austin street playing with a band called Buzzard's Breath.
"I fell in love with the sound, and, eventually, we all moved to New Mexico and started ThaMuseMeant," Moore said.
That's what ThaMuseMeant focuses around - the sound. Members reach for that union between the music and the musician and produce something far greater than those just playing for the novelty of being in a band.
"We have this female, angelic, distant but very intimate vocal right next to an in-your-face male vocal," Tiller said. He promises listeners that the three-year hiatus only improved the band's connection. "The magic's still there."
Busking, however, is still a favorite pastime for Moore.
"To have 70 people crowd around you on the streets is an incredible feeling. It's like nothing else," he said.
Luckily, no one has to worry about finding the right street corner to find this band rocking out. They'll be playing at Stella Blue on Friday night after five years away from the Duke City.
"I hope it provides people a tent to gather under," said Moore. "To bring people together is the great power of music. I love it when lines have two or three different meanings. It's a blank canvas that people can paint their own meaning onto."
Tiller, on the other hand, hopes to inspire a mini-revolution with each song.
"My personal hope is that people quit their jobs and grow their own food and stop paying taxes," Tiller said. "But that's pretty idealistic. I don't even do that. But really, I want people to listen better, to listen to words and poetry, heart and music better."
What: ThaMuseMeant
When: Friday, 10 p.m.
Where: Stella Blue 3001 Central Ave.
Price: $8
Ticket Info: 268-8667
