Ben Miller Band

Men with long beards playing banjos and washboards — the esthetic seems overdone these days. But the Ben Miller Band, out of Joplin, Missouri, is anything but a Mumford & Sons copycat trio. On the band’s recent release, Any Way, Shape Or Form, songs progress from mudstomp folk to country, rock ’n’ roll and even silly, shout-back-and-forth numbers — not one songs sounds the same. The group also employs rustic instruments like electric spoons and a homemade one-string bass. Sung through a favored microphone made from a landline telephone, Miller’s vocals often sound distorted and distant. The raucous outfit is never afraid to blaze their own path.