If you’re anything like me, when you first heard the name “Hillbilly Thomist,” the image that came to mind was unclear.
When we decided to book this band for the Athenaeum I knew I couldn’t be the only one with this confusion, and so we set out to learn a little more about these 8 Dominican friars who alongside their primary vocations have taken on a new role: Bluegrass musician.
But first, a little background for the band in general.
The Hillbilly Thomists is a Bluegrass band, born from a their treasured time for recreation during their years in a rigorous program of studies during their years of formation. What began as a casual creative outlet—playing music after dinner and discovering this love of Bluegrass—has blossomed into a thriving side project.
Though their days are spent primarily in their vocation as priests—preaching, teaching, and being the face of Christ to the world—they’re united around another common passion: Bluegrass music.
In fact, they see their music and their Dominican calling as intimately connected. Fr. Justin Bolger—a member of the band who left a successful career as a musician & songwriter to follow God’s call—put it like this, “in preaching we share the fruits of our contemplation. Songwriting is another mode of this fundamental Dominican activity. One can pray with the Word and write a song as well as a sermon. We preach and sing the Word.”
Our founder, Lawrence Daufenbach, sat down (virtually) with the band to learn more about the individuals; how they started playing music in the first place, their musical influences, favorite songs, and more!
How did you get into music? Any particular influences?
“I played Irish fiddle while growing up at the Riley School of Irish music, and then started playing Americana and Irish music with friends at the University of Dallas. We formed a band (the Stillwater Hobos), and spent our summers busking in Asheville, North Carolina.”
—Fr Simon Teller (hometown: Cincinnati, OH)
“My family is very musical. My dad’s a songwriter and my siblings play music. I started writing and playing piano at a young age cuz it seemed like the thing to do around the house. Some musical influences: I love old pop/rock like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Randy Newman, the Byrds. I also like 90s alternative country like Son Volt, Wilco, the Jayhawks, and Old 97s.”
—Fr. Justin Bolger (hometown: Baltimore and Frederick, MD)
“I was drumming since before I knew what was a drum and what wasn’t, as my mother found out after I dented the ivory keys on the piano that I attempted to play like a xylophone. My early influences were the Beatles and Cream. By eighth grade, it was Gene Krupa, Buddy Ritch, and Art Blakey.”
—Fr. Joseph Hagan (hometown: Pittsburgh, PA)
How did you get involved with the Hillbilly Thomists? What instrument do you play?
“A number of brothers with similar musical tastes happened to end up in formation together at the Dominican House of Studies. We started out just playing a bunch of Irish songs together, and that gradually developed into our just playing the songs we ourselves wanted to hear together. That group of brothers eventually started playing small local gigs, and, when pressed for a name, we decided to more or less steal ‘The Hillbilly Thomists,’ which Fr. Austin Litke & Fr. Thomas Joseph White had come up with some years before. They were gracious about it. I play guitar.”
—Fr. Justin Bolger
“Austin Litke and I started playing bluegrass music in the Dominican House of Studies in 2006 I think, and he called the group ‘The Hillbilly Thomists.’ Others arrived in the years to follow and reconstituted the group. I play banjo, resonator guitar and mountain dulcimer.”
—Fr. Thomas Joseph White (hometown: Statesboro, GA)
A group of us student brothers sang and played Irish tunes after dinner once a week at the House of Studies as a way to enjoy one another’s company, and eventually it morphed into playing more bluegrass-Americana. When a smaller group of us started playing at receptions we hosted after ordinations and things like that, we realized we had a pretty cool thing going. I sing, and I play more or less whatever the song needs when we’re putting it together: mostly mandolin and guitar, but also piano, some bass, and the occasional dobro.
—Fr. Peter Gautsch (hometown: Gallitin, TN)
Do you have a favorite song by the Hillbilly Thomists? Why?
“I love a lot of our songs. It’s hard to say which one. I love how ‘Steal Away’ turned out. It’s fun to reinterpret traditional songs and this came out great. I love ‘Bourbon, Bluegrass, and the Bible.’ Fr. Thomas Joseph really captures the southern gothic ethos on that one. I also love how ‘Lead Me By the Hand’ turned out. It’s a soulful country tune with a simple but moving lyric.”
—Fr. Justin Bolger
“Hard to pick. ‘Veronica,’ a track that Fr. Justin wrote for our latest album. Fr. Peter’s piano on that song is beautiful, and the chorus gets stuck in your head in the best possible way. ‘Bourbon, Bluegrass, and the Bible’ is phenomenal. I’ve never heard anything like it. I think that the song we had the most fun recording was ‘Jacob’s Ladder.’ Fr. Justin hits that high G so well, over and over again (it is a G, right?)”
—Fr Jonah Teller (hometown: Cincinnati, OH)
What artists inspire you?
“When it comes to Bluegrass, the “Fathers” are my favorites: Bill Monroe, Earl Flatt, Lester Scruggs, Kenny Baker, Doc Watson, the Stanley Brothers. The “Newgrass” revival is also a model for me, people like Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, who were able to bring forward the tradition of bluegrass and garner a totally new audience.”
—Fr Austin Litke
“This may be an unfair answer, but I’d say King David. The Psalms keep a perfect balance between suffering and praise, realism and faith, honest emotion and trustful surrender. And we did steal his lyrics a few times in our music.”
—Fr Joseph Hagan
What are your hopes for this year’s tour? What are you looking forward to?
“Live music is always better than recorded music. That’s how we started and still are at our best. Maybe we’re slightly out of tune and raucous compared to recordings, but the energy is better. I also have random friends and cousins scattered abroad who hope to make some shows.”
—Fr Timothy Danaher
They’ve just released their third album, Holy Ghost Power, which they describe as follows:
With this new record of original songs, The Hillbilly Thomists keep one foot rooted in the Blueridge foothills of Bluegrass and Americana while stepping across the Mississippi into the land of New Orleans delta blues and old Western country. Flowing from the Dominican friars’ life of contemplation, study, and preaching, the thirteen tracks of Holy Ghost Power sing of redeeming love and old-time religion, Diet Coke and Original Sin, pilgrimage and the sweet prospect of the life that awaits beyond the River Jordan’s stormy banks. They’re songs for people who are made of a little bit of angel and a little bit of dust.
The Hillbilly Thomists will be playing a concert in Chicago at our very own Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture July 29th. We invite you to join us for a rollicking evening of bluegrass and americana favorites from this remarkable band!
Find more info and tickets here
