'Outlaw Indie, In-law Country': The Almond Butters
/Get out your best britches for The Almond Butters.
Daryl Almond is casually rocking a Brooks & Dunn t-shirt with a bandana. And his cousin Jebediah Almond is crooning into a retro 1950s mic in a prairie-Western button up. Behind them, Leo Garretti is strumming the banjo. And drummer Jean du Le Monde is yelling something hilariously unintelligible in the corner. The crowd is excitedly yelling back at Le Monde, the bartenders are pouring beers 'round the counter, and all the eyes in the place are on the band. This is the scene at an Almond Butters show.
The Almond Butters describe themselves as “outlaw indie, in-law country”. They play a variety of original country jams with a few covers sprinkled in, ranging from Pink Floyd to Willie Nelson. Daryl plays guitar and the keys, Jebediah is on bass, Leo strums the banjo and guitar, and good ‘ol Jean is on drums. The Almond cousins share vocals, and Jebediah is especially animated in his performance. They bring an entertaining honkey-tonk to the bar, but the best part of their show is their engagement with the crowd. They make you laugh, they make you dance, and they make you feel like you’re at their backyard country barbeque and Jean du Le Monde is your favorite drunk cousin. It’s great.
So how did these Butter boys connect to bring Boulder such an amusing country spectacle? We asked Daryl, who told us that, “Jebediah needed a platform for his songwriting, and at the time [he] and I were listening to a lot of outlaw country music. Meanwhile I was getting to know Jean du le Monde and knew that he had the perfect drumming style for the band. Jean then brought in Leo, who had the style and personality we were looking for.” And so the Butter boys were born.
But things have been quiet this year for the Butters. They went on hiatus at the end of 2014 as their members formed and joined other projects. Luckily, their absence from the scene is about to change. The Almond Butters have plans to record in the fall, and will follow that with a few winter shows. So if you didn’t catch their tunes “Un Beso Mas” or “Ed Sentcha” at The No Name Bar this past weekend, something tells us y’all will have the chance to put on your best britches for an Almond Butters show real soon.
Keep up with the Butter boys here.
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All photos, videos, and embedded tracks per the artists featured and those credited. This feature was edited for brevity and clarity by BolderBeat.