The Devil Makes Three is, from left, Lucia Turino (upright bass), Cooper McBean (guitar/tenor banjo) and Pete Bernhard (guitar).IF YOU GO• What: 3 Sisters Festival of Bluegrass Music featuring Del McCoury Band and The Devil Makes Three.• When: 6-11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3; noon-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4.• Where: Ross's Landing, 1 Riverfront Parkway.• Admission: Free.• Phone: 423-265-0771.• Website: 3sistersblue grass.com.
SCHEDULEFriday, Oct. 3• 6-6:30 p.m. The Dismembered Tennesseans• 6:50-7:50 p.m. Claire Lynch Band• 8:10-9:10 p.m. Rhonda Vincent & The Rage• 9:30-11 p.m. Del McCoury BandSaturday, Oct. 4• Noon-12:45 p.m. Bluetastic Fangrass• 1-1:45 p.m. Lone Mountain Band• 2-2:45 p.m. The Dismembered Tennesseans• 3-3:40 p.m. Berklee College of Music Fiddlers• 4-5:10 p.m. The Greenbriars• 5:30-6:40 p.m. Steel Drivers• 7-8:10 p.m. Balsam Range• 8:30-10 p.m. The Devil Makes Three
Listening to vintage blues, ragtime and jug-band recordings, the members of The Devil Makes Three fell in love with the music's vitality and expressiveness.
But when they went to see modern-day artists perform the same songs, guitarist Pete Bernhard says, he and his bandmates couldn't help but feel like something was missing.
"You'd go to a show, and everyone was sitting in chairs. It was almost like historical reenactments more than a live thing," Bernhard says, laughing. "It just was stuffy and boring."
So when they take the stage, say the members of the roots trio, they try to pick up the slack and party like it's 1899.
"We try and put everything we have into our live shows to really give a high-energy performance," he says. "We give it everything we have."
For all its recognizable ties to the traditional forms they admire, Bernhard says, The Devil Makes Three's music is just as rooted in their shared love of punk music.
In the decade of change since the three native Vermonters found each other and joined forces in Santa Cruz, Calif., their combination of traditional trappings with punk energy have earned them a reputation for raucous, high-energy shows that give new meaning to the phrase "barn burner."
This something-old-is-new-again sound has helped The Devil Makes Three to straddle appealing to mainstream and traditional audiences, earning the trio high-profile appearances at events from Newport Folk Festival and DelFest to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Saturday, Oct. 4, they'll take the stage at Ross's Landing as the headliner and final act of the eighth annual 3 Sisters Festival of Bluegrass Music. (The Del McCoury Band will headline opening night, Friday, Oct.3.)
As the band's primary songwriter, Bernhard says that he tries to pen lyrics that don't shy away from touchy subjects - politics, for instance - and that suit the old-time style without becoming irrelevant to modern listeners. Allmusic reviewer Steve Legett describes this approach as "remarkably timeless."
The trick is to write about what matters to you and not pretend to be something you're not, Bernhard says.
"We wanted the songs we played to make sense to people who are alive now," he says. "So we didn't write songs about mining or working on the railroad or traveling across the country in a covered wagon.
"What do I know about being a settler or a lumberjack or whatever? Nothing."
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205.