MARK THOMAS DEMING: THE OLD, THE WEIRD AND THE HAUNTED >>>

My wife drops me off at the curb, drives away. I stand on the sidewalk gazing across the street. I check the address in my hand.

This block at the edge of downtown is empty. No traffic, no people, no movement anywhere. Weeds devour vacant lots. Buildings look abandoned.

A flutter of worry. It’s the associations, I think, more than the actual moment. Quiet, taillights disappearing, hot sun, guy alone on the corner â€" it’s the classic drifter scene. Woody Guthrie, Tom Joad. Robert Johnson at the crossroads.

Earlier that morning I listened to Ghost Country, the new record by James Hilborne and The Painkillers. The strange, spectral tunes brought to mind the phrase Greil Marcus coined to describe the dark vein in American folk: “the old, weird America.”

“This is the old, weird America,’ I thought, grooving in my kitchen to The Painkillers. Now, standing alone on the street, I think, “If the old, weird America still exists, this is it.”

James Hilborne and the Painkillers will celebrate the release of their new record at Rocket Records today at 3 p.m.To read the full article click here.