The 9th Street Stompers with The Help & The Hands, Brian Lisik

The 9th Street Stompers are an outfit of well-dressed no-counts chopping on acoustic instruments and singing about life, death, love, and liquor. Hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee, they cull up the musical scenery of an era when the lines between swing, gypsy jazz, blues, rockabilly, and tango weren’t nearly as hard and fast as the drinking and dancing. Steering clear of much of the novelty and kitsch associated with pre-war music, they choose to demonstrate the modern relevance of their chosen medium.

With Skip Frontz Jr. furiously slapping the string bass and Lon Eldridge on blues finger-style resonator guitar, ukulele, and kazoo, they share vocal duties. Dalton Chapman is a Gypsy Swing virtuoso who diligently studied the great Django Reinhardt and finally, the always enchanting Sampire swings the brush snare with the grace and finesse of a sultry metronome. If her drumming doesn’t catch your attention, her eyes certainly will.