Pine Hill Haints Rebel Against Growing Up On Cajun-Flavored Squeezebox Pop Tune

Alabama’s wildly prolific cult heroes The Pine Hill Haints have shared their brand new single “Lone Star Kid” off of their upcoming new album and first for the artist-run Southern independent label Single Lock Records. Filled with punk-rock style, distorted guitars and bouncy accordion, “Lone Star Kid” is a catchy, cajun-flavored squeezebox pop tune that tells the story of a kid leaving home to pursue his dreams despite his parents wanting him to settle down, stick around and get a job:

“His mother stood and watched her boy go, from her door

Never to return home, no more

She said stay here boy, get a job

Earn your money 

Don’t you go out there in that cold and pouring rain”

Listen to “Lone Star Kid” via American Songwriter here: https://americansongwriter.com/the-pine-hill-haints-premiere-lone-star-kid-features/

Written by lead singer and Haints founder Jamie Barrier, it’s hard to imagine the song isn’t inspired by the band’s history. The Haints were born out of skateboarding culture (formed in a cemetery!) with the desire for complete freedom and no rules, even if that meant doing an illegal thing or two every once in a while. 

“Twenty-five years ago, there was a group of us in Auburn and we were all into roots music,” recalls front man Jamie Barrier of the Haints’ rebellious beginnings. “Meanwhile, me and my roommates had started a skateboard company. Whenever the police would come after us, everybody would run in a different direction, so they'd have to choose which of the eight they were going to chase. But every skater knew to meet up right beside my apartment, which was next to the Pine Hill Cemetery. I could open a window and walk out into the cemetery. It got to where we'd go into the cemetery with acoustic instruments and just jam.”

The Pine Hill Haints continue to bring the energy and “the right amount of weird” (AL.com) on upcoming album The Song Companion of a Lonestar Cowboy, out May 14th on Single Lock Records. The 15-song sequence takes listeners on a journey into Sun Records-style country and swampy blues mixed with their love of ‘70s punk and ‘80s hardcore, as well as Barrier’s strong tenor voice echoing everyone from John Lee Hooker to Buddy Holly to Johnny Cash. The title of the new song and album, The Song Companion of a Lonestar Cowboy, are borrowed from a 100-year-old book of stories about Billy The Kid and the Old West, perfectly matching the outlaw vibes of the Haints’ music often referred to as “Alabama Ghost Country.”