Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

Countless bands have mixed punk and country, from Tex and the Horseheads to the Meat Puppets to X. The rollicking rhythms of country seem to compliment the punk aesthetic, but it’s the attitude that sells it most.

“The anger in a song like Johnny Paycheck’s Take This Job And Shove It is not a million miles away from the frustration of The Clash’ Career Opportunities,” says Peter Lambert, drummer for the Kensington Hillbillies. “I think if it weren’t for Punk, I don’t think I ever would have understood Country. I think of the two genres as, if you will, White Blues.”

The Kensington Hillbillys began in the winter of 1996, when the Steve Ketchen and Mikey McCallum – who happen to be father and son – began performing in Toronto’s famous Kensington Market. Back then, they played songs by the likes of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard, and over time, they began to add to a handful of Ketchen’s original songs.

Since then the band have played far and wide, around the globe, performing their Fuji Rock debut last summer. Lambert remembers the weekend as a “massive celebration” of music and community…and the bright colours of several thousand raincoats.

“The rain was a big part of our experience last year,” he recalls. “The rain was torrential. This didn’t seem to deter anybody from enjoying our set, which will go down in my memory as one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever been a part of. The crowd was incredible, swinging and swaying with our every note.”

While country music may not have an enormous following in Japan, there is undoubtedly a niche for it. The Hillbillies will like cause a stir when Fujirockers discover that, this year, they’re only playing Clash songs – in their own inimitable style, of course – instead of performing their own material.

“This time around, we will be a little louder and even more energetic than we might be doing our own material,” says Lambert. “By putting us on three different stages, [festival organizer] Mr. Hidaka is trying to introduce us to the Japanese people to see if we might catch on. I think we will deliver.”

Read the review of last year’s Fuji Rock show here.

*Photo by 横山正人 and used with permission of Fuji Rock Express ‘11.