There was a time when the Squash Blossom Boys would play anywhere they could.
"We played for a dog party once," guitarist Dustin Orbesen said. "It was at a boutique dog shop. So, there was just a bunch of people with their dogs running around everywhere."
Guitarist Kyle Malone said the gig reminded him of the movie "Best in Show."
"There was this one girl who got pissed on," he said. "It was the funniest thing - by this little bitch dog, right on her foot. She was like one of those girls who looks like they're from Hollywood. It was ridiculous."
The Squash Blossom Boys formed in high school.
"Jesse (Murray) and I are brothers, and my dad was kind of into bluegrass," banjo player Kit Murray said. "When we were young, we used to play at the Corrales Growers' Market when we lived there. Then we started getting these guys into it for extra money in the summers."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Murray brothers came up with the band's name.
"It was at the farmers' market," mandolin player Jesse Murray said. "We were playing, and we didn't have a name. There was this lady who happened to be selling squash blossoms that morning."
Before settling on bluegrass, the Squash Blossom Boys were a rock band and then a reggae band.
"Then, we called ourselves SBB, because it wasn't cool to be the Squash Blossom Boys when you're doing rock," Malone said. "We'd tell them it meant Satan's Best Bitches. Then we did reggae, and we were Surefiya."
Bassist Peter Lisignoli said Surefiya lasted no longer than four months.
"Once that ended, we were just left with bluegrass, because we were making more money with that," he said. "In Albuquerque, there's really not much of a folk scene happening yet. There's a very small one. So, we kind of were just filling that niche, I suppose, rather than the reggae which, you know, there are so many bands out there who do that kind of rock-ska, kind of punk and reggae."
Lisignoli said there is a lot of room for improvisation in bluegrass.
"Most of our set is traditional tunes," he said. "We just try to make it our own through improv and different compositional decisions we make."
The traditional songs helped the band understand how bluegrass music works.
"It's to get a sense of legitimacy and pay your dues before you can actually try to write your own stuff," Jesse Murray said.
The Squash Blossom Boys will compete in a contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival this summer.
"The Telluride Bluegrass Festival every year has a band competition for new and upcoming bands, and whoever wins that contest is actually on the m ain stage the next year in the lineup and everything," Malone said. "So, it creates a lot of exposure for bands who are trying to get exposure. Plus, it's a super-cool festival."
For now, they'll be playing around Albuquerque a few times a month and keeping their steady gig at the Corrales Growers' Market, a venue that has some interesting characters, Malone said.
"There's a lady who always walks around in a fairy suit at the Corrales Growers' Market," he said. "She's called the fairy lady. She has, like, wings and a wand and stuff. It's crazy."
Squash Blossom Boys
Friday
Atomic Cantina
315 Gold Ave. S.W.
10 p.m.
Free
