B'hiki Bop

Here is Cousin Harley's first all-instrumental recording! Band leader Paul Pigat and Cousin Harley fans alike have waited for B'Hiki Bop for a long time. Twelve original tracks (and one smokin' cover) bring classic western swing, hotrod country, surf, psychobilly, lounge, and west coast jump blues all together. The CD is musically and sonically diverse, bristling with breaks that give each member of this powerhouse trio a chance to shine. Pigat creates a wide palate of tone by utilizing almost everything in his arsenal. From Gretschy twang to blistering Telecaster, not to mention a healthy dose of classic 8 string steel guitar and an unusual treatment of electric 12 string (a la western swing virtuoso Jimmy Bryant), this outing is unique in the Cousin Harley catalogue. A relentless jaunt through the highly creative musical mind of Paul Pigat, B'Hiki Bop will keep you on the edge of your seats.

Whether he's opening for Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot, flying in to support Jakob Dylan at a showcase in New York, or playing a searing solo to elevate the soaring vocals of a traditional gospel rave up from The Sojourners, Paul's singular dedication and peerless work ethic have earned him a growing respect within music's inner circles.

However impressive the list of credits he's compiled over the last few years has been - earned by supporting artists such as Neko Case, Jim Byrnes and Carolyn Mark - it's when you get to hear Paul on his own that his star really shines. To paraphrase the old blues song, Pigat's got so many tunes he don't know which way to jump. So, instead he simply gives into his muse and exuberantly follows wherever it carries him. When he takes on the guise of inbred rockabilly hero Cousin Harley, the energy is cranked up so high that no one can resist digging deep into their pockets to pay the wages of sin and dance around the still to Pigat's exhilarating hillbilly squonk.

Called the 'Motorhead of Rockabilly' by a delirious fan after a particularly raucous show in Holland, there's nothing tentative about Cousin Harley's pedal to the metal approach to this stripped down form of rock and roll. As Pigat notes, ''Cousin Harley's been my main project for 14 or 15 years now. People think it's easy to play rockabilly, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Everyone has to be on board from the first note or it just doesn't work.'' And judging from the people who drove or flew hundreds of miles to attend shows on the last European jaunt, everything's working just fine.

Cousin Harley tours annually in Western Europe, and debuted at Australia's Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2011. New tours of North America, Europe and Australia are in the works. So, perhaps it would be better if we all stopped thinking, buckled up, and held on to enjoy Cousin Harleys wild ride for all its worth.