The Horse’s Ha is no laughing matter The Thunderbird Cafe

Though all signs point otherwise, The Horse’s Ha is not a tribute band to Dylan… Though all signs point otherwise, The Horse’s Ha is not a tribute band to Dylan Thomas.

Sure, the name comes from a Thomas short story, and its debut album — Of The Cathmawr Yards — refers to a graveyard-set scene within the same work, but guitarist James Elkington said the band is more than a tribute band for the Welsh author.

“The album is called [Of The Cathmawr Yards] because we had a working title for a while but we didn’t like it, so we went back to our roots,” Elkington said. “We said, ‘Let’s look at our source material.’ Still, it’s not a Dylan Thomas comfort album.”

Pittsburgh lovers of music that is “sort of folk, but not really,” according to Elkington, can decide for themselves when The Horse’s Ha makes its premier stop in Pittsburgh next Monday at The Thunderbird Cafe, the first show on its first-ever tour.

The band is based in Chicago, and Elkington said, it has not had enough exposure outside the Windy City to accumulate any wealth of humorous touring stories.

“This is our first tour. I mean, we’ve played quite a few shows, but this is the first time we’ve actually left town to do a string of performances,” he said. “When you are in strange towns, eating strange foods, that’s when things start getting weird. I’m sure the next time we talk I will have some stories for you.”

Though Elkington has been to Pittsburgh to perform with musician Edith Frost at the Andy Warhol Museum in the North Side, he said he has not gotten the chance to explore, and that because of a next-day engagement in Arlington, Va., the band will have little time to experience the city.

Elkington said he has low expectations for the concert, but is just happy to be performing with a group of musicians for whom he cares a great deal.

“I have no idea [what to expect]. I will be pleased if anyone wants to come out to see us. It’s been such a long time getting to this point, It’s just great to tour and play with the group,” he said.

Elkington, a British expatriate, was heavily involved with music in London, but he said he found the Chicago music scene more alluring.

“I have always been a big fan of Chicago music since I was in my late teens, and I was really curious to visit,” he said. “When I came, I felt immediately attracted to it — unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. I made friends here and started coming quite a bit, and I finally decided to stay.”

In between bouts of solo projects and collaborating with The Horse’s Ha vocalist Janet Beveridge Bean, they assembled a number of other musicians and formed the group as it is known today.

Though he can play a mean acoustic guitar, don’t ask Elkington to concisely describe the band’s musical style.

“I am appalling at describing my own music — anything I’m involved in, I’m just awful,” he said. “Some songs are pretty traditional, and we’re all acoustic, but everything we do sort of gets warped by this jazz filter.”

The other band members “are quite expressive, and the music is very fluid,” he added. “Janet and I write these songs, and by the time the band is finished with them, it transforms into something very different. It’s like the band has a real sense of identity. I’ve never been part of something that transforms stuff I’ve written in that way,” he said.

At the show, audience members should check to see if Elkington plays the entire time, because he said sometimes he gets too wrapped up in the music around him to continue.

“Sometimes when I’m playing live,” he said, “I stop and just listen to the band. It’s really an incredible thing.”