The Pine Hill Haints

The Pine Hill Haints formed in Auburn Alabama years ago, as part of the punk scene revolved around house shows (Man or Astro-Man?, the Quadrajets)…a skateboarding crew who kept late hours in graveyards, travelers, seekers, run away kids, the haints were led by Jamie Barrier, a native of north Alabama (Muscle Shoals) steeped in the deep mystical history tied to this region.  They have been dedicated to the DIY aesthetic, pressing their own records and booking their own tours for years.  The Grateful Dead by way of skateboarding mystique has grown over time.  The Haints toured with all types, from Charlie Louvin and Ralph Stanley to Dead Moon and Tiger Army.

In Dec of 2023 the band went to the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound at 3614 Jackson Highway and proceeded to record a host of material…country ballads, rock a billy crooners, psychedelic bits laced with punk speed, a strange testimonial to the tales around the gothic South.  It will be released through Single Lock Records from Florence Al.

The latest long player by the haints is titled “Shattered Pieces of the True Cross”, recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Studio by Ben Tanner.  It was done totally live, with a dark candle lit vibe with tunes dealing with the complex human emotion of the hesrt…coffin nails fly into darkness, (“Haint Blue”) mystical girls with blue skin and eyes of gold dance in fading dreams, (“Drinking With the Prince”) honky tonk ala Johnny Horton hardwood bangers (“Honky Tonk and Dance All Night With You”) smokey isolated country rock steady ala the Smiths (“Offer a Smoke Before You Apply the Blindfold”) and haunted fiddle, (“Ki Yi Woopi Ti Yay”), with complete psychedelic masterpieces (“Faraway on the Long Black Train” or “the Loser”-a Jerry Garcia Dead cut- this album is dead and layered in its abstract forms through the Alabama Ghost Country Sound that the Haints proudly proclaim…a hard touring, never play it the same, tribe of suffering kids captured timelessly on vinyl