The Felice Brothers began their set at New York City’s Webster Hall with an old-time organ intro by burly brother James Felice. With a few soft kicks on the drums, each player chimed in one-by-one with their instrument of choice – bass, followed by guitar, big beat kick drum and fiddle. Their exhibition of Americana folk-meets-Woodstock rock was a unique blend of timeless tunes and a roots-laden sound.

The continuously rotating cast of musicians, featured the brothers three (Ian, Simone and James) accompanied by dear friends Christmas Clapton and Greg Farley. Although Ian tends to be known for vocals strikingly reminiscent to Bob Dylan, his songwriting prowess is something unique. It’s obvious The Felice Brothers were born and bred on enough bluegrass and folk to give them their very own true-to-roots sound I found both rare and real. It was easy to picture The Felice Brothers on their backyard porch in the Catskills playing their tunes without any amplification. Taking turns at the mic, they each put their own touch on the tunes.

“What’s up friends and family,” Ian greeted the nearly sold-out show that boasted their biggest New York turnout to date. Their set featured new material from Yonder is the Clock (Team Love Records) like the Old Western saloon-esque of “Run Chicken Run” (complete with a crazy chicken dance) and the Big City inspired “Penn Station.” Older tunes were heavy on the accordion played by James, his deep and raspy baritone vocals told anything from sad Tom Waits stories to uppity sea shanties like “Whiskey in My Whiskey.” Fan favorites like “Radio Song” made for fun sing-a-longs and tell-tale ballads like “Don’t Wake the Scarecrow” and “Ruby Mae” conveyed real life experience. Lyrics like “the clouds break and the pews shake / the preacher’s feet do pound” expressed an early day foxtrot and “breakin’ my payroll / goin’ down to Jericho / happy days are here again” tied in life with the era of the Modern Age. Their diversity in timbre, musicianship, technique and theme got the full and undivided attention of the crowd, as they lost themselves in the honkey-tonk time warp and sang along in unison to nearly every song.

Highlights included a street performer style number near the show’s end complete with plastic buckets and a washboard. Things got rowdy post-encore as the band destroyed their equipment – body slamming into the drum kit that had served as tabletop dancing for just about every member throughout the performance. Arm-in-arm and amidst the debris they took a big bow to the roaring venue. Not even the washboard survived.