Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Otto's Shrunken Head

Vocalist/lead guitarist Michael McMahon came to New York City from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and met bassist/banjo player Garth Powell when both had blond spiky hair and played in local punk bands. Aging out of that phase, they played together in the 1980s alt-country band Last Roundup. That band split after one 1987 album, and McMahon and Powell then formed the hillbilly/rockabilly revival band Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. The trio also features Michigan-born rhythm guitarist Jon Hammer, and performs at Otto's Shrunken Head monthly, usually on the last Thursday of each month.

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., also known by its acronym, SIT & Die Co., claims to plays solely "ballads, boogies & blues," but that marketable yet vague catch-phrase allows the band to interpret vintage country-western, honky tonk, rockabilly and even swing and old-timey rhythm and blues. At Otto's Shrunken Head tonight for the band's monthly two-hour show, the three musicians wore matching western wear, decorated the staging with 1950s-styled set pieces, placed baskets of tortilla chips on all tables, played up the cornball country comedy, and performed killer roots music often on one electric and two acoustic instruments. Powell's bass provided sharp rhythm and bounce without a drummer's help, McMahon captured an authentic guitar twang and hillbilly vocals, and Hammer gently offered the fuller, thicker resonation, while all three harmonized on choruses. Old covers and original songs sounded like they derived from old 10-inch 78 rpm records. On this night, the band also invited onto the stage Stella Rose Saint Clair to sing several cowgirl songs. The stage act was more than a concert, it was a sparklingly entertaining cabaret act that would do well off-Broadway.

Visit Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at www.SITandDieCo.com.