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Hell & Hollar Dirty and Loud Rock & Roll BY DAVID ROLLAND
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lake Burns wants to make sure people know the correct spelling of his rock band Hell & Hollar. “Hollar has an a. That puts a Southern drawl on an old term that means piss and vinegar.” It’s a fitting emphasis since the four-piece band has a Southern rock vibe to both their fast-paced songs like “Showdown” or the gritty blues of “Low and Slow.” As a kid, Burns split his time between Delray Beach and the upper peninsula of Michigan. “Both places had different people. Michigan was real blue collar. South Florida was full of that folklore of drug runners and smugglers. I saw Delray as an outsider as a big money, extravagant place filled with expensive cars and homes. I had different friends in both places. That made me a chameleon. I got good at putting myself in other people’s shoes, which helps with songwriting,” Burns said. Burns, as singer and guitarist, originally started Hell & Hollar with his best friend, drummer Jean Lacerte, in 2014. The current iteration with bassist Johnny Dusko, drummer Nate Largent, and guitarist Ian Pattison fully jelled about a year ago. “I always intended it to be a four-piece [band] with two guitars,” Burns said. The quartet bonded over ’60s and ’70s space rock influences like Deep Purple, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd. Burns added he’s particularly influenced by bands like Clutch, Queens of the Stone Age, and Frank Black. ”I love bands you can’t put in any real box that are trying to do something different. Like have one song just be a harmonica and an organ. A record shouldn’t have to be something that people have to fish around for a good song.” Hell & Hollar took that philosophy into a Nashville recording studio for their debut self-titled EP. It was originally recorded in 2018, but with the band having recently picked up major distribution, they’re slowly re-releasing all the songs. “442” was the first to be re-released and, like all their songs, it was a bit personal to Burns.
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