Traditional Irish folk songs are not often heard in bars or restaurants in Alabama.
Distant Kin is a self-described Celtic folk-punk band based out of Montgomery.
The band consists of members Adam Powell, Britt Powell, Drew Martin, Geoffrey Stockinger and Ryan Vanderberry.
The Powells and Martin are members of reggae band BPM. When Britt Powell's daughter was born in November 2010, Adam Powell and Martin decided to try something a little different.
"In the beginning Britt wasn't even in the group," Adam said. "Me and Drew thought we'd start a little folk group."
The band plays a variety of instruments, all part of a typical Irish band. Martin and Vanderberry both play guitar, Stockinger plays mandolin, Britt plays drums and Adam plays banjo, tin whistle and the electric bagpipe. While Adam performs lead vocals, the rest of the group shares in harmonies.
Before Britt joined the band, percussion was fairly limited.
"In the beginning days I was playing a kick drum with a tambourine taped to the front of it and playing washboard," Adam said.
After about a year, Britt joined the band and completed the lineup. Ironically, the idea for Distant Kin came about when Britt's daughter was born and he was unable to play with BPM.
"We thought Britt's going to be busy with the baby so we'll start another band," Adam said. "Then Britt ends up joining the band and then has another kid."
"The first time we got together we had eight or nine songs," Martin said. "That's when we decided we wanted to make a band."
"The first song we learned was Polly Wolly Doodle," Adam said. "We were just trying to figure out what we were doing."
The band's sound has developed and changed in the past few years, moving slightly away from an early bluegrass-feel.
Britt describes it as pepped-up folk music. Adam calls it Celtic folk-punk.
"It's drinking music," Martin said simply. "Pub tunes."
The band pulls from a variety of influences, namely The Pogues, the band that started the Celtic-punk genre bands like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly carry on today.
"We're really big into The Pogues," Adam said. "I would say as [the music] developed it's become a lot like The Pogues, but more traditional."
The band cites Woody Guthrie, The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers and The Wolf Tones as further influences in their work.
"There's always the ever present Beatles influence over everything," Martin said.
"I've never written anything that sounds like Strawberry Fields, but every song I've written is influenced by The Beatles."
The band performs at various venues in the area, mostly around Montgomery. They like to call Head on the Door their "home base."
"It's a grimy little dive," Adam admitted. "It seats maybe 65."
Martin said that includes the band and the bartenders as well.
The band has recorded one album, The Recession Waltz, though Britt said there are songs written for a follow-up.
Britt Powell isn't the only father of the group. By August, everyone but Stockinger will have a child.
Family life has slowed down the band a bit.
"We haven't played as much in the last year or so as we did in the first couple of years," Stockinger said.
Britt said their other band, BPM, stays a little busier.
That doesn't mean the group doesn't stay busy. All of the men have jobs outside of Distant Kin.
Britt works at Railyard Brewing Company. Adam is a reporter for The Tallassee Tribune and The Eclectic Observer. Stockinger repairs bikes. Vanderberry is a registered nurse. Martin described his job as "running conferences calls in a big building full of computers all day."
Adam and Martin both studied print journalism and creative writing at Troy University together.
"We were Hunter S. Thompson wannabes," Martin said. "We just wanted a profession where we could drink all day and write."
Before getting back into journalism in December 2013, Adam taught classical guitar in Montgomery. He actually had one of his students teach him banjo.
"I would have to make a deal with the devil to play the banjo well enough to play in a bluegrass band," Adam said of his skills.
The group enjoys playing together and exciting crowds.
"Nothing makes you want to drink like some good old Irish music," Britt said.
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