In all the 432,174 jokes about banjos, there's not one that ends with a connection between that five-string noisemaker and punk rock. Maybe that blind spot is what makes Will Whitmore's banjo songwriting so striking. It's not as if there's never been a banjo player as influenced by Minor Threat as by the Louvin Brothers (anyone out there remember the Bad Livers' cover of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and Danny Barnes' gonzo clawhammer?), but it's an idea that's rare, a ninety-miles-an-hour connection just begging to be made. With his latest, Hymns for the Hopeless, Whitmore merges the frenetic sincerity and major-league tattoos of punk with the holy importance of the down-and-out, and it works like a charm. Whitmore is to solo singing and banjo playing what Ani DiFranco is to acoustic guitar -- the kind of artist who makes listeners wonder why other musicians can't put as much emotion and energy into their own work. For this show, Whitmore joins the Payload, a band that includes members of Ten Grand. That group's former singer, the late Matt Davis, befriended many local musicians, including opening act and Volara side-project Atone a Tone.
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