The Harmed Brothers

Maybe you've seen the photos from Washington Square in New York circa 1958 or so, with those fresh-faced college kids wailing out "Tom Dooley" while strumming banjos, ukuleles and eternally acoustic guitars. Ray Vietti (originally from the small, northern Missouri town of Marceline) and Alex Salcido, a.k.a. the Harmed Brothers, are young enough to be the grandkids of those folkies. Still, the Cottage Grove, Oregon-based songwriters would have fit right in with the revivalists. With its harmonica racks, Appalachian obsessions and kicked-out-of-the-choir harmonies, the Harmed Brothers isn't afraid to sound as sentimental as a campfire, as out of tune as pre-stardom Avett Brothers or as punch-drunk as that notorious trio from Belleville, Illinois. The duo even has a song called "Ode to Uncle Tupelo" — and it means every word.