ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co., from left, Garth Powell, Michael McMahon, Sara Bender and Jon Hammer performing at
Otto’s Shrunken Head around Halloween.
Hillbilly boogie trio keeps on rockin’ in style
BY BOB KRASNER
Walk into Otto’s Shrunken Head on the
last Thursday of any month, sit down
in the back room at a small table, and
have yourself some “salty snacks.” Then be prepared
to be seriously entertained — at 8 o’clock sharp —
by three identically clad gentlemen who love playing
their music so much that they do it for free, as they’ve
been doing continuously in this room for the last ten
years.
They call themselves the Susquehanna Industrial
Tool and Die Co. (more about that later) and they
play “hillbilly boogie, which is a sort of proto-rockabilly,”
according to rhythm guitarist Jon Hammer.
Upright bassist Garth Powell hesitates to describe the
band — which has no drummer — but does muse on
its singularity, noting that, “three weirdos in a trio
will result in uniqueness.”
The third part of the equation is Michael McMahon:
lead singer, songwriter, lead guitarist and raconteur,
emcee and general all-around entertainer. How
this group came to be a regular East Village fi xture
is his story — how a guy who grew up in Pittsburgh
listening mostly to sports talk radio, moved to New
York, learned the difference between a guitar and a
bass and never stopped playing.
His parents listened to Barbra Streisand, but his
big sister Amy was already in New York City, in the
middle of the punk/no wave scene. He joined her
there in 1978, learned to love The Clash, the Cramps,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and the Contortions and
bought himself an electric bass.
“I wanted to play something,” he recalled. “A
friend told me the guitar had six strings and the bass
had four, so I chose the bass.”
His fi rst band was a punk combo called the
Starekits. They did a total of three shows.
“We were terrible, but we looked amazing,” Mc-
Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co.’s
Michael McMahon, right, with special guest
Stella Rose Saint Clair.
Mahon said.
Eventually, he found a place to live in the East Village,
where he still resides, and formed a new band
with sister Amy. He described Last Roundup as “hillbilly
with a punk attitude — the punk part was that
we had no idea how to play!”
Powell was a member of the band, as well. They
played mostly originals, written by the two McMahons,
because, as Michael put it, “it was easier than
learning covers.”
They got themselves a record deal, great reviews,
toured the country, made no money and broke up.
Amy, now married with a new surname, Rigby,
went on to form The Shams with Amanda Uprichard
and Sue Garner and then to a very notable solo
career.
McMahon, who now had a day job, found himself
checking out the “Avenue C Opry” scene, a Monday
night affair that brought country music fans together
in a tiny East Village bar. It was there he started jamming
with pedal-steel player Henry Bogdan (who
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
played bass in the metal band Helmet).
At the time, the band was a much different quartet
— McMahon on guitar, Powell on bass, Bogdan
on pedal steel and Rick Brown on drums. In a pinch
before a show, McMahon came up with the name:
Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co. It wasn’t
until later that it was pointed out to him by his brother
that it had a pretty catchy acronym: “SITandDIE.”
Fast-forward to the present, and the trio is now
the “longest-running act at Otto’s,” at E. 14th St. and
Avenue B. Once a month the place fi lls up with fans
who take sartorial cues from the band and dress in
vintage duds.
It’s a bit of a surprise when you realize that most
of the tunes that sound like they are from another era
are actually from McMahon’s songbook.
If you’re lucky, go-go dancer Pamela Sparacino will
be on hand to do her adorable dance to the chorus of
“Dig That Crazy Monkey!” — “Go, Monkey, Go!”
You can also count on frequent guest spots from
wonderful singer Stella Rose Saint Clair and muchwelcomed
appearances by artist Daisy Reinhardt,
who brings chicken for everyone when the mood
strikes her.
But in the middle of it all is McMahon, singing
into a vintage microphone and “oozing indescribable
movie star charm that wins you over instantly,” in
the words of Carol Elizabeth Dietz, a regular at the
monthly gathering. “He is a throwback to a golden
era of impeccable personal style.”
Bassist Powell, who has a day job as an editor, sees
the residency as a positive thing.
“It keeps me out of trouble,” he said. “Would have
probably joined a cult if I did not have it.”
Guitarist Hammer, who is also a writer and a
painter, muses on how they have managed to stay together
for so long:
“I guess we’re set in our ways. Just pure stubbornness.”
Schneps Media TVG January 10, 2019 19