Kevin Bronson on January 23rd, 2013

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To hear the music of band that bears his name, it’s easy to imagine the mythological character Herbert Bail trudging down some dusty backroad, holes in his shoes and cactus needles in his pants, toting a wooden handcart bulging with a guitar, accordion, horns, viola, banjo and assorted tools of the trade. All Mr. Bail needs, it would seem, is a few friends and a jug of something tasty, and one heck of a party would break out. And so it is with the Herbert Bail Orchestra, the sometimes-nine-strong collective fronted by singer-guitarist Anthony Frattolillo. Their debut album “The Future’s in the Past,” released last year on the day the world was supposed to end, is a sprawling collection of gypsy folk that’s rich in storytelling and carving out myths of its own. Frattolillo is joined on album by Andrew Katz, Colin Warling, Jack Dawson, Ryan McClain, Michael Villers, Steve Mitchell and Danny T. Levin – together, they recall a even-more-homespun version of Gogol Bordello.

||| Stream: “Holy Smokes”

||| Live: The Herbert Bail Orchestra celebrates its album release with a show Saturday at Echo Country Outpost, joined by Restavrant, Kera & the Lesbians, Nathan Xander and Odetta Hartman.