Henhouse Prowlers bring trademark four-piece harmonies to Cedar Rapids

"Unravel" is a curious album title for a band that's as together as Henhouse Prowlers.

"It's true," banjo player and vocalist Ben Wright said while calling from his Chicago home. "We're really close. We had a hard time with naming this album. But that's what we came up with. We've been together for 20 years, and we back each other."

That's not how it was in Wright's prior group, The Outlaw Family Band. After a gig in 2003 at the late, lamented Yacht Club, everything went wrong for Wright. He spent the night in jail.

"We opened for a band and their banjo player handed me this tiny bag of weed," Wright recalled. "Not long after he did that, the police arrived and started shaking people down. They found the weed on me and they handcuffed me, and I spent the night in an orange jumpsuit sleeping on the floor in the Johnson County jail."

His bandmates didn't wait around for Wright.

"Those guys left me behind," Wright said. "I had to walk to the airport where I rented a car and drove home (to Chicago). That was an unforgettable time for me in Iowa City.“

Wright's current bandmates would never leave him behind.

"We look out for each other," Wright said.

"Unravel" is just a name of another solid album from the bluegrass quartet, which also includes bassist-vocalist Jon Goldfine, guitarist-vocalist Chris Dollar and mandolinist Jake Howard. "Unravel" features pretty harmonies, traditional bluegrass and folk. The collection of tunes have meaning, and the group's blend of banjo, guitar, mandolin and bass is sublime. And it all comes together with the ironically titled "Unravel."

"Line the Avenues" is as deep as it is catchy. The banjo-driven tune was inspired by Wright's grandfather, a B-25 pilot during World War II. Many of the "Greatest Generation" veterans chose not to speak about what they experienced during the conflict that spanned half a decade. However, Wright's grandfather detailed what he endured.

"When I was 10 years old, my grandfather got me up early one morning, at 6 a.m., to take me to his room and showed me photos from WWII,“ Wright said. "I'll never forget that. This song began as a tribute to my grandfather, a B-25 pilot from a small town in Indiana who served in North Africa during WWII.

“As I wrote, the song grew beyond that moment, touching on the experience of a female rescue pilot during the Gulf War, and ultimately becoming a reflection on the enduring toll of war itself; on those who fight, and those who deserve to be remembered. Reading the headlines about a war and knowing people who fight in them are two vastly different things, regardless of what side you're on."

The biggest curveball is Henhouse Prowlers' surprising version of the mid-80s Genesis smash "Land of Confusion." The rearrangement is surprising and powerful.

"When Jon brought this song to a pre-production session for the album, we realized Chris and Jake had never heard it before, which highlights the slight generational gap in this band,“ Wright said. ”Despite that difference, we all agreed quickly that the song is powerful, timeless and continues to reflect the world we live in."

When the Henhouse Prowlers, who will appear Saturday, Nov. 22, at CSPS Hall, aren't recording or touring, the group is out as Bluegrass Ambassadors. That's literally the name of their nonprofit, which takes the act to countries all around the world as they spread their music, culture and message. The Henhouse Prowlers believe that music should be accessible for those around the world regardless of economic strata.

"We started this endeavor in 2013," Wright said. "Back in the '50s Louis Armstrong was sent out as a cultural ambassador and accomplished a great deal. We believe diplomacy isn't just for diplomats. We believe musicians can make a huge impact around the world. We've seen what can be accomplished."

The Henhouse Prowlers have visited more than 30 countries spreading the word about bluegrass and learning about the music from other parts of the world.

"We love it when we arrive and we're paired with a local band in a place like Liberia," Wright said. "It's an exchange. We play in front of audiences that never heard of bluegrass. We then learn their music and their language. We love having the opportunity to educate and meet people from different cultures. We know how fortunate we are to be in the position we're in. We get to do what we love, which is playing music."

Wright never envisioned such a life and career when he moved from Ithaca, New York, to Chicago shortly after the turn of the century.

"I came here as a musicless person," Wright said. "I didn't play an instrument. But everyone I was around played an instrument, usually the guitar. I kept my eye out for another instrument. I saw a banjo for sale and I bought it. I became part of this community of songwriters and musicians in this great city that was home to John Prine and Steve Goodman. Initially I sucked until well, I didn't. I put the hours in and joined a band."

That band left Wright behind, but he's confident that his Henhouse Prowler bandmates won't leave him in a lurch if something goes awry in Cedar Rapids after playing CSPS.

"These guys are always there for me," Wright said.