Chopped Hogs, Whole Hogs
and Rockabilly Piglets

Shelley Arnusch - Pique News Magazine


The Piglets are back with Cousin Harley for Hogfest '04 this Saturday night.


Although, technically, they never left.


The three-piece rockabilly band fronted by West Coast jack-of-all-musical trades Paul Pigat embraced simplicity by dropping "and the Piglets" from its name years ago.


But in honour of tomorrow night's gig, which caps off an all day celebration of all things "hog" - chopped hog motorcycles and a whole hog barbecue feast prepared by Mount Currie's Adam Protter, Best New Cook at August's Canadian National BBQ championships - Pigat has decided to bring back the Piglets.


It's not just the name that fits the occasion. Bad-ass bikes and barbecue are best served with Cousin Harley's brand of gritty jive, jump blues and retro rock 'n roll, played hard and fast with shades of Reverend Horton Heat-style surf guitar psychobilly madness.


Pigat's no stranger to Whistler and most recently played on the Village Stroll for Tourism Whistler's jazz, blues and swing weekend mini-festival, accompanying the dancers from Abbotsford's Suburban Swing troupe.


His versatility extends far beyond western swing and rock 'n roll. He studied classical guitar at the University of Toronto in the late 1980's and has dipped his guitar into supporting roles for an entire spectrum of genres: boogie-woogie jazz for piano player Michael Kaeshammer, jazzy pop for Lee Aaron, adult-contemporary folk for Mae Moore, and alt-country cool for Carolyn Mark and Neko Case. He's also made the blues/gospel connection by opening for the Blind Boys of Alabama and rubbed shoulders with R&B artist Aaron Neville.


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