Ancient History; the "First" Pernice Brothers

In 1985 Joe Pernice and big brother Bob recorded several songs at Fort Apache South, marking what can be considered the first phase of the Pernice Brothers band. Bob's roommate Mike O'Brien played on those tunes, and was also the skinsmeister for the Country Cousins. Perhaps the earliest Pernice press was this Ted Widmer article about the Country Cousins and the Pixies that appeared in the Boston Phoenix on Nov. 10, 1989. The Cousins were a joint effort that we threw together to play a series of Monday night Plough and Stars shows, part of a residency I held there in 1988 and '89. Bob and I played guitar, Joe played bass and we all sang in the Cousins, which marked, I believe, the brothers' second joint project. We still play together once a year at our annual Vitale family reunions, when we strum a few numbers while Uncle Ducky sings "My Way" and Aunt Mae Mae hollers for "Spanish Eyes".

The Scuds and Scud Mountain Boys

After the Pernice Brothers experience, Joe moved to North Hampton for college. He honed his already-considerable poetic skills and made us all proud when he had some of his poems published. He also made the transition from bass to guitar, the latter being far more suitable for the songwriting process. It was in Northhampton that Joe began to play with a group of guys who chose the topical name of the Scuds. It was as the Scuds that Joe effected the transition from bass player to guitarist-singer -songwriter, and the band quickly became a favorite of the Sister Schools area. Personnel changes followed, as well as stylistic developments. Joe's move from rock to country and back to rock again made total sense when, with the addition of steel guitarist Bruce Tull, the group became the Scud Mountain Boys, playing a distinctive brand of pop rock with a country inflection. The 1995 Chunk LP Pine Box and their sardonically titled Dance the Night Away (both are now available on Sub Pop's reissue The Early Year) are aptly described on the band's Sub Pop webpage as "minimalist-country constructions presented with few frills and even fewer overdubs". The releases established the band regionally and then nationally as leaders in the neo-country scene- also called alternacountry, country grunge, and anything else a reviwer thought would sound clever. The fans of the band's recorded works grew in number, and their live performances cemented a bond with that audience through playing long on sincerity and talent and short on artifice and bullshit.