A mayhaw is a small bitter fruit native to swampy parts of the Deep South, including the Tallahassee area. The fruit is used to make some sweet jellies that are very highly regarded. The thorny hawthorn trees that bear the fruit are endangered.

The Mayhaws are an acoustic group based in Tallahassee. They make some sweet music that is occasionally thorny, and feature three highly regarded songwriters. They are making new contributions to traditional American roots music, which they consider to be endangered.

The group is blessed with three songwriters. Sharla Benedict’s first contribution to the Tallahassee music scene was with punk band The Shakes. She then left Tallahassee and started playing acoustic music. Her path took her to Athens, Georgia, and Prague; but, like many of us, she found herself back in Tallahassee with a new perspective on the world.

Carrie Hamby and Dave Leporati are old friends in music. They play in the local bluegrass group Cowlick (formerly known as Fifth Gear, they appeared on outloud in 2004). They also played together in Hamby’s Singing Biscuit (outloud, 2003- though without Dave). Victims to the local music scene, Carrie and Dave found themselves alone in Singing Biscuit and began playing gigs with Sharla to form The Mayhaws. Originally, they were joined by Scott McArthur on drums. He’s in the studio performance. He has since moved on and has been replaced by Deb Berlinger; you’ll see her in the interview and in concert footage taped at Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack.

The meat and potatoes of the group’s repertoire are their originals. The band bears three songwriters playing two-bands-worth of material. And if three distinct voices don’t keep things interesting enough, the group spices things up with honky tonk and rockabilly covers- as well as acoustic versions of Ramones, Lou Reed, and Stooges. This is music for people who love music.

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