By Joe Fassler
When Park Slope musician Dock Oscar founded the Kings County Opry three years ago, he was determined to establish a new place for old-time music. At the time, Brooklyn offered no haven for country musicians, and the established country music showcases were located on the other side of the East River. But when Manhattan’s renowned Alphabet City Opry closed, Oscar put his cowboy-booted foot down. “I’m not going to wait for someone to do this anymore,” he recalls thinking. “I’m just going to do it myself.” These days, the Kings County Opry—which showcases country, bluegrass, and folk artists from Brooklyn and beyond—is a thriving event with an ardent following. Oscar has proven himself an ideal master of ceremonies, a role he often shares with fellow Park Sloper Alex Battles. Together, the musicians select acts with impeccable taste, work the crowd easily between sets, and even perform with their own bands from time to time. The Opry’s location is a key part of its success. Freddy’s Bar and Back Room occupies an unassuming corner on Dean Street in Prospect Heights, but it hosts some of Brooklyn’s most unique events. On Diva Night, professional opera singers perform jaw-dropping arias in a casual setting. Cringe Night, where mortified readers share their teenage poems and diary entries, was called “funniest night out in New York” by Spin Magazine. Yet even among these dynamic counterparts, The Kings County Opry stands out. Anyone stepping into Freddy’s on the third Thursday of the month has found a lively bluegrass band, and, most likely, an enthusiastic audience singing, dancing, and shouting for favorite tunes. It’s easy to see how Opry-goers get so excited. There is no proper stage, so performers and audience members nearly intermingle. The Back Room has been lauded by performers and fans alike as one of the city’s best-sounding spaces for acoustic music. And the bands, often with as many as eight or nine musicians playing and singing at once, create an atmosphere of unbridled enthusiasm. Over time, Dock Oscar likes to say, the event has evolved into “a good-natured riot.” The show begins with the Song Circle, a round robin of short sets featuring a variety of songwriters and performers. Then, at 9:30, KCO favorite Yarn takes the stage. The band’s textured, bluegrass-tinged country is at once accessible and affecting. Carroll Gardens frontman Blake Christiana’s singing voice is the aural equivalent of a broken-in pair of jeans—rugged, homey, and dependable. Among this bevy of top-notch bluegrass musicians, mandolinist Andrew Hendryx’s thoughtful, articulate playing emerges as a crucial part of the band’s sound. Though Yarn’s jam band roots are manifest at times, the instrumentation never preens or overpowers; Christiana’s masterful songwriting shines through in each song. Alex Friedman closes at 10:30, with his backup band The Other Failures. The Prospect Heights songwriter’s work shifts effortlessly between wry country ballads, raucous talking blues, and tender, introspective vignettes. Friedman is also a painter and artist who has contributed to magazines like the New Yorker; it is no surprise, then, that his songs have painting-like qualities. His songs are prolonged meditations that delve into their subject matter in way an artist might labor to render the details of a landscape or the features of a human face. The music simmers, sometimes boils over, with expressive gusto as lyrical flourishes pile up like brush strokes. Friedman is candid about his desire to write striking, powerful songs: “The things I’m singing about are totally mine and totally true,” he says. “And I’m convinced that when someone is totally true to themselves, that truthfulness becomes their instrument.” Though several of his songs explore themes of artistic honesty, he warns against “paintings that are just about the paint.” At The Kings County Opry, nothing is less likely. Freddy’s Bar and Backroom is located at 685 Dean Street, at the corner of 6th Avenue; you can learn more about the venue by visiting www.freddysbackroom.com or calling directly at 718-622-7035. Additionally, the Kings County Opry website, www.kingscountyopry.com, provides detailed information about the series’ schedule and performers. This month’s event takes place Jan. 18 and is free and open to anyone over 21 with ID.
