Local music: Poverty Hash's rich stew

If the dudes in Poverty Hash were younger and leaner and decked out in cooler, tighter jeans, they would probably already be one of the hottest new buzz bands in town.

As it is, they're in their 30s and 40s, wear blazers and Levi's (loose fit, I think) and make for a way more interesting and intense band because they have been around rock's tattered block more than a few times.

"Know that this ain't my first time," bald frontman Joe Roberto rightfully warns in "Blood Stained Hands," one of the many seedy, sweltering songs on Poverty Hash's first full-length album.

After making a splash at last month's Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Fest, the blues-flavored, rock-heavy quartet takes over the Turf Club on Saturday to celebrate the record's release. These shows are also something of a local coming-out for the band, which started in Roberto's native Danbury, Conn., but moved here over the winter -- not long after finishing recording sessions that started in Asheville, N.C., with one of the Avett Brothers' old producers.

"We're probably the first band to move to Minnesota from one of the coasts to make it big," said bassist Jason Murray, a Twin Cities native who formed the band with Roberto. Out East, they could head to either New York City or Boston for nightly gigs. Here, they have Murray's mom to cook for them.

Roberto alone is a lesson in age being a rock 'n' roll asset. At 45, he has nearly three decades of gigging under his belt in a wide variety of bands, including one that toured with Blues Traveler in its early days. He can now manhandle a wide variety of instruments, including a 1946 Rickenbacker lap-steel guitar, plus keyboards and harmonica.

Most important of all, Roberto has more stories to tell than a room full of young-buck rock stars.

"As much as I saw a profitable future in prostitution, being broke playing music was my true calling," Roberto cracked.

The music he's making now is rich in gritty character and a surprising amount of tender soul, both of which are all over Poverty Hash's debut, "Ma Hall's Toot 'n Come Inn" -- named after Roberto's former place of employment. The disc arrives on Half-Door Records, the label run by former Palmer's booker Chris Mozena.

Kicking off with the foot-stomping, full-steam rocker "It's Good to Be the Freak," the record doesn't take long to show off Poverty Hash's versatility. After the slow-burning but fiery "Blood Stained Hands" comes a mellower, alcohol-wearied soul epic called "Drink the Ocean" featuring Roberto on organ and gospel-tinged vocals. Deeper into the album comes a straight-up piano ballad called "Rally Cry," which Roberto wrote after the death of his younger brother.

Not included on the album is the band's frequent set-closer, Tom Waits' "Clap Hands," which may be the one time a Waits cover doesn't involve the singer putting a fake gravel coating in his voice (Roberto talks that way, too).

In addition to Murray -- who was in the early-'90s local band Soul Reaction and plays a wicked stand-up bass here -- Poverty Hash now includes one of Murray's longtime cronies, guitarist Robert Zemlin, plus a new drummer, Dan DeMuth, who is also newly gigging with Communist Daughter.

"I thought about Austin [Texas] or Asheville, but most of the people in those cites aren't actually from those cities. That's not the case here."

So far, he has no regrets: "I'm having the time of my life with these guys," he said.

Coming from him, that means a lot.

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