The Yelping Hill String Band: If you blinked, you missed them

CORNWALL — Only a lucky few were able to catch a recent performance of the Yelping Hill String Band at the Cornwall Farmers Market. If you missed it, don’t expect to hear this trio again anytime soon.

“We haven’t signed a record deal, and the band has no offers of future inter-galactic performance gigs, or otherwise,� band member Jeremy Brecher told The Journal in an exclusive interview.

Had the performers known they might end up publicized as the one-gig wonder that they are, they might have had second thoughts about bringing their exclusive (and rather secretive) style of entertainment to the public.

But they all have a good sense of humor — that’s what brought them out to the market to begin with — so, really, they just have no business complaining. And they’re not. They’re just making more jokes.

“We sort of made up the name for that day,� Brecher divulged of the band’s brief (but glorious) history. “Dan and Jill and I all live on Yelping Hill. Dan is the only professional. He’s a very accomplished singer and songwriter. As a group, we normally only play in our living rooms, old-time stuff and whatever else we feel like. We thought playing one time in public would be fun, and since we are all devotees of the farmers market, and we’re there every Saturday anyway, why not?�

The weekly showcase of local businesses and talented groups is a new addition to the market. It has added a fresh dimension to what has become the social event of Cornwall weekends. Surely the Yelping Hill String Band members knew what kind of exposure they’d be getting.

But the real scandal is that they came out under an assumed name.

“We actually call our band ‘Ragged But Writers,’� Brecher confessed, explaining that the moniker is a takeoff on a very old country-folk song called “Ragged But Right.� It was originally recorded by Riley Pucket in the early 1900s, and later by a host of others, including George Jones and Jerry Garcia. A number of bands across the country now go by the name.

But we digress.

Brecher explained that all three band members are writers. They are not apologizing for distorting the name to satisfy their own whims. Perhaps an appropriate punishment would be to require an encore performance.