Here are some topics to ask Marah should you ever get a chance to talk to the band — because as soon as you hear them, you’ll definitely want to meet them: How did they get Steve Earle to produce them, Bruce Springsteen to record with them, High Fidelity author Nick Hornby to perform with them and Stephen King to rave about them? And how is that they blow away South-by-Southwest crowds year after year, yet still maintain that gotta-love-’em underdog quality? Actually, the answer to all of the above is simple: it’s the music. Marah are a simple band of brothers (Serge and Dave Bielanko) and friends from Philly who consistently grind out grand albums like Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight or their latest, If you Didn’t Laugh, You’d Cry. They sound like the Replacements crashing into the Boss and Earle, but most of all, they sound like sincerity. That’s all they know, these brothers in arms; how to be sincere. On any given night, when they’re sweating their asses off and questioning 14 years of club-to-club existence, they can tell you the story of their parents’ romance and a hundred other tales. And you’ll believe every one.
