Homespun: The Bootz Orchestra, Bony Jars

From the sweetly sung ukulele reveries of Beirut to the raggle-taggle gypsy-punk of Gogol Bordello, the hybrid of Eastern European folk and Western pop has hollowed out its own niche in indie music over the past few years. The nine-piece Bootz Orchestra works in this genre as well, under the direction of St. Louis-born Kyle Butz. The core band members met at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, and their conservatory training gives no small amount of technical proficiency to this normally rough-hewn style of folk music. Luckily, the Bootz Orchestra isn't interested in a strict re-creation of folk idioms -- instead, the mish-mash of intuitive, rock-based drumming, brass-band harmonies and rootsy accordion lines combines to give a spirited foundation to Butz's high, quavering vocals.