The Stillwater Hobos

Now suppose there existed a certain band, the songs of which were like unto the High Kings in genre, Van Morrison in vocal tone, the Beatles in artistry, and had that esoteric lyrical nature of “Stairway to Heaven.” Any fool can observe that such a band would be unrivaled in our time. Consider, reader, the same envisaged work but as a vehicle for Catholic themes. Voila, the Stillwater Hobos.

Very little can be known about the band itself. Even a thorough investigation can uncover (and has uncovered) little. They formed one evening in Galway, likely heading to the University of Dallas’ Rome Program.

Like a meteor passing through and eventually dissolving into the darkened sky, so came and went the Stillwater Hobos. They have but one album, “My Love She’s in America,” with twelve songs for a combined playtime of 49 minutes 58 seconds. 

The songs are a pleasant blend of traditional Irish tunes and original pieces. Most prominent among those of the former distinction is “Carrickfergus,” a song replete with that Irish melancholy that leads one to either tears, Jameson, or a decidedly pleasant combination of the twain.

It is this same bittersweetness that moves the heart in the Stillwater Hobos’ title song, “My Love She’s in America.” The song speaks of the deleterious result of unrequited love—viz. “Cigarettes in the Morning” and “Cold Whiskey in the Evening.” The narrator speaks of the hard times he encountered when “the last cow died” and his “true love went to run like an engine.”

“The Girls in Old Ireland” presents a much cheerier vision of life, though, in truth, it is the sad reminiscence of better times. The narrator of this song sings about his mother’s words to him as a child and how she asked God to give him strength “like turpentine.” She ensures him that she will always be with him, even in the years to come when she will have passed on.

The most popular of the songs created by this band, however, is also the most overtly Catholic—“St. Therese.” The song opens with a plea for help. The speaker’s love has left for America and he is without a clue as to what he should do next.

Now, there is a pious legend connected with a certain novena to St. Therese. At the end of the novena it’s said that one receives a rose, one red for the vocation of marriage or white for religious life. In the song, the narrator remembers how he was rebuffed by the woman he considered his love and immediately saw “a rose as white as lye.”

What remains now of the Stillwater Hobos? The casual listener and fan alike may ask with the poet Tennyson, “When can their glory fade?” As it would happen, band member Will Teller joined the Dominicans after his time with the Hobos. Today, he can still be heard in the bluegrass band “The Hillbilly Thomists” under the name of Brother Simon.

Featured Image Courtesy of D-V via Pixabay