“No Actors, No Costumes, No Makeup, All Real”

by Tammy Moon

You’d think by now they would be Tired Hands.  Don Richmond, Eddy Lee Bullington and Jim Bradley are three grown men, gigging on a schedule teenage rock bands would envy, and still doing all their own driving, schlepping instruments and equipment to and from, while working at other careers.   Instead, the members of the popular local dance band Hired Hands are bursting with the energy of their latest CD, “Hands of Time,” newly released on the Howling Dog label. 

                “I think it’s a powerful representation of what we’re all about,” said Bullington, the band’s co-lead, from his home in Angel Fire.  “We are a band with many facets, a kind of prism reflecting many different colors.  And song for song, this album was hand-picked to represent the best of all that we believe in.” 

                Bullington, the youngest and newest member of the trio, states that although there are some accidental re-occurring themes throughout the eleven-song collection, this independent-spirited group of musicians chose songs that have a lot of personal meaning, without developing a real concept.  “Most of the tunes,” says Bullington, “are unique as a thumbprint.” 

                 About “Burning up the Night,” the rip-roaring opener, Bullington admits, “I was just playing secretary to my brain.  I woke up one day, and all the words were just… there.”  Amping down a bit, “Deeper Well,” along with “Me and the Eagle,” a Steve Earle tune, take an introspective turn.   From the Beatles’ White Album, “Mother Nature’s Son” continues the easy flow, with a theme of finding self in nature.  “Old Girl,” a ballad recorded by Albuquerque Contemporary Christian artist, Fernando Ortega, is followed by “She Just Wants to Dance,” originally sung by Keb Mo as a sort of blues-y shuffle, done here by the Hands as a jitterbug, with Richmond handling lead vocals.  Bullington co-wrote “Bitter Creek Blue Northern” with Rick Fowler, featuring Richmond on banjo.  Life moving on while feeling left behind is a common theme in love-lost songs, and “Keeping Time,” is no exception, this time highlighting Richmond’s skill on dobro.  “Her Spirit Moves Me,” is easy to sing along with, as is the rousing rendition of Jamie Walker’s, “Suicide at the Wishing Well.”  

Richmond, an Alamosa, Colorado native, is the Hand’s instrumental backbone, chief sound engineer, and all-around creative genius.  He stated, “I would have liked to see more deliberation in our song choices, but just because we didn’t choose a theme, doesn’t mean there isn’t one.   If there’s a message in our songs, people will find it.”  He went on, “It’s an artist’s job to be a bridge between heaven and earth for others.  That’s what the second verse of ‘Hands of Time’ is really all about.  Trees have roots deeply planted in the ground, while reaching for heavenly realms.  I believe that in order to be effective, musicians need to be firmly grounded while reaching others with their gifts.  It’s hard to maintain that balance.” 

But balanced it is, and like the aging of a fine wine, “Hands of Time,” took over a year to record.  The songs reflect a depth of lyricism only maturity can bring, emphasizing the three men’s rich vocal harmonies. Varied instrumentation, textured story lines, backed by the strength of their respective picking abilities reveal the group’s true appeal.    Hired Hands prides itself on being,   “no actors, no costumes, no makeup, all real,” said Jim Bradley, bass player for the Hands.  The result is pure acoustic musicianship (except for Bradley’s electric bass guitar) of the highest order. 

                “Because we play a lot at the Sagebrush, we’re accused of being a country band,” said Bradley, a fourth-generation New Mexican. “But we’re not.”  Combining the best of folk traditions sometimes with Celtic and rock influences, or even Texas-swing or bluegrass, Hands’ music typifies that genre-less classification that has come to be called ‘Americana’ in recent years.  Bradley states, “We do songs we like, and we do them our way.”  

                And their way seems to be working.  Crowds pack the dance floors wherever the Hands appear—even when there is no floor.  Folks were two-stepping, jitterbugging and waltzing their way to contentment on the open grassy areas at the Sunshine Festival in Alamosa recently, when the group kicked off the two-day music and crafts event.  Despite scorching sun, the band played a refreshing repertoire that included the oft-requested, power-packed “Freight Train,” from their previous release, “Stuff that Works,” and premiered several of the new cuts.  

                Singing of eagles soaring, “mountains and mesas, valleys and peaks,” Hired Hands has found expression for their abiding sense of place in time.   Having matured past the immediacy of a sought-after moment on Top 40 charts, they sing of things that matter.  They’re not seeking record deals in Nashville, and their gauge of success isn’t necessarily the number of CDs sold.   “Success is doing what you love.  We love to sing, and we love this part of the country we happen to live in, so we’re successful every time we get up on stage,” mused Bullington. 

                Even the album’s cover art, designed by Alamosa artist, Dave Montgomery, depicts a uniquely southwestern motif.   “It’s the picture of a petroglyph which appears on a rock in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado.  The figure depicted has his hands outstretched, thumbs pointing in the same direction, as if he’s giving directions, or in some way saying that we’re really all going the same place,” explained Bradley.  “And we are.  We thought of those hands as the ‘Hands of Time,’ and the song along with the album title, were born.”  And, as if unwilling to let go of the image, the CD ends as the title track trails into a haunting rondo, voices lifted in seemingly never-ending refrain, followed by the simple strains of a fiddle duo, played to perfection by Richmond and fellow Colorado fiddler, Gordon Burt.  

                It’s all in the Hands.  The Hands that hold guitars like a long-lost love; the Hands coaxing mandolin music and banging banjo with plucky energy, for audience after toe-tapping audience.  Tired?  Never.  Just as always, the Hired Hands.   Fresher and more alive than they’ve ever been, in their element, in “Hands of Time.” 

                For booking, call 758-1468.  Ordering information and other cool stuff about the Hired Hands can be found on their website, www.hired-hands.com.    You can also find “Hands of Time” and other recordings at Que Pasa Music and Brodsky Books in Taos.