What is a Gandy Dance?
(with a little help from Google...)

(OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY) 
gandy dancer   slang (orig. U.S.).  [Orig. uncertain.]

A railroad maintenance-worker or section-hand. Hence gandy dancing.

1923 N. ANDERSON Hobo vi. 93 A ‘gandy dancer’ is a man who works on the railroad
track tamping ties.

1929 Amer. Speech V. 172 Gandy dancing is not considered a very
honorable profession.

1933 Ibid. VIII. 26/2 Gandy dancer, section hand. (From the rhythmic
up-and-down motion of workers pumping a handcar.)

What is up with this show? Are you guys a band or a theatre troupe?

We like to think of ourselves as a blend of a lot of things as we draw
influence from a wide variety of sources.  But simply put: We are like a theatre troupe with a band inside.


              


Is it vaudeville?  Is it burlesque?

We are vaudeville-inspired. Though vaudeville was the half the basis of the project it never quite ended up there.
 We don't call ourselves a "vaudeville show" but some people do think of us as such.  We just think of ourselves
as a drunken hobo cabaret!

We are only "burlesque" in the literal sense.  Not in the "exotic dancer" sense.

Why don't you play more shows?!

We don't want to overdo it.  All of us are involved in other projects, bands, have full-time jobs/schooling,
and have lives we have to live.    We like to keep the Gandy Dance special (and fun)!  We would prefer our 
audiences come not knowing what to expect rather than seeing and hearing the same show over and over.
 So when you do see a show scheduled you can bet it's going to be potent to the last drop.  


Why don't you guys TOUR?  I'd love to see you guys!

Our material is pretty specific to Knoxville and East Tennessee.  Why don't you come here?
We'd love to see you, too!    But really, if we thought we could pull off putting up with each
other on the road and that you'd get our jokes, we might consider it!


Will you guys play at my house party?

Probably not.  But Maybe!

Why do you think it's funny to mock homeless people?

Whoever said anything about mocking homeless people?    Our shows uses the image of the "hobo"
to address certain issues through comedy and satire.   We like the way Jack Rentfro put it in his
Metro Pulse article:   

The sociological import of playing hoboes in a city with a plenitude of genuinely unfortunate victims of economic circumstances, as well as a population of panhandling grifters, isn’t lost on the Boozehounds. As if closing with their outrageously localized version of the Woody Guthrie anthem “This Land Is Your Land” didn’t make it clear enough where they come down on the issue, Rogers and company will elaborate on the ultimate message about freedom and self-reliance. They didn’t set out to be meaningful. Like Rogers says, “[I]t just happened. Cabarets are supposed to have some sort of commentary and satire so I went with it.”

“The problem has been around so long! Satire is a legitimate way of raising awareness about it,” Hancock interjects. “I’ve been seeing homeless people under the interstate bridge on Broadway for as long as I can remember.” The others agree that, far from exploitation, the Boozehounds’ fascination with substance abuse, unemployment, hunger and non-existent health care is more about “whistling through the graveyard.”

Smacks Cobblecorn. Photo by Caleb Wilson