The lines have been drawn. The deathmatch has been set for Baker Street Centre.

However, those bloodthirsty among you can calm down. This is not going to be that kind of deathmatch. No, this one will be “fought” with fiddles, banjos, upright basses, and mandolins when Debutants and The Matchsellers meet in what’s billed as the Bluegrass Deathmatch on Friday, June 30.

“It’s all in good fun,” said Lynn Nicholson of local band Debutants. It’s going to be a good way to bring some friends here and kick their butt in a Bluegrass Deathmatch.”

All in good fun

Fun is definitely the name of the game at the Bluegrass Deathmatch. 

Based in Kansas City, Missouri, The Matchsellers are centered around Julie Bates on fiddle and Warsaw native Andrew Morris on guitar. When speaking with Morris, it’s clear he’s enjoying the “deathmatch” moniker.

“This is going to be the greatest bluegrass deathmatch in the history of the world,” Morris said via email. “This is gonna be a straight-up bloodbath. For years to come they’re gonna call this the ‘Summit City Slaughter’ because we’re gonna whoop the Debs so bad. We’re gonna string ’em up by guitar wire in the Magnet Wire Capital of the World. They won’t be able to save themselves in the city that saved itself. It’s sure to be a battle of gladiatorial proportions.”

Nicholson is a bit more diplomatic in his wrestling themed trash talk.

“We can’t lose with this many good musicians,” he said. “No one’s losing. It will be a bloodbath of excellence.”

Coming together

The Deathmatch came together as Morris and Debutants’ Sean Hoffman have been in communication since taking part in an open jam a number of years ago at a Fort Wayne grocery store.

“We became fast friends and have played a lot of music together over the years,” Morris said of Hoffman. “At some point, he was telling me about this new band Debutants he was playing in and said the music was good. So, I perked my ears up, got hip, and man he was right. We wound up playing with the Debs for the first time near St. Louis and had a ball.”

According to Nicholson, they’ve been trying to reconnect since that show, but something always gets in the way.

“Played with them once, but we’ve tried probably 10 times,” Nicholson said. “Something always happens. We’re going to try to break the curse with this Deathmatch.”

What to expect

The format of the show will feature 10 rounds. Each round will have a different theme, with judge Dave Pagan of U.R.B. deciding the winner of that round. Nicholson said the themes could range from traditional bluegrass to battle of the sexes, rock n’ roll, and food or animals.

“I wanted to come up with ways for the audience to engage with the music,” Morris said of ways he tries to “frame” music, drawing inspiration from Bertolt Brecht. “To force them to listen and think and interact with the stage show.”

Morris said Brecht, who was a playwright from Germany, which is where Morris and Bates met as Fulbright Scholars, came up with a concept, verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect), where it would be clear to the audience that play was fake. With that in mind, the idea was that the audience would see the play from a more objective viewpoint.

“When I first got to Kansas City, there is this folk club called Rural Grit which had a weekly theme night,” he said. “And you had to play a song based on that theme. 

“It was a brilliant idea. So I mashed that up with some of this Brechtian stuff I’d been thinking about and got the idea for the Deathmatch. It started as Duo Deathmatches we would put on in Kansas City. Two duos with a referee. We have different ‘rounds,’ i.e. categories. Something like ‘the saddest song’ or ‘a song about transportation.’ Each group gets up there and plays a song that fits the category and the crowd and the referee determine who wins each round.” 

Strategy

When it comes to the rounds, The Matchsellers might have the edge with their catalog, which includes four albums, beginning with 2015’s Kosciusko County. That album features such regionally themed songs as “Leaving Burket,” “Mentone (The 3000 lb Egg),” “Beaver Dam Blues,” and “Claypool Dog Races.” Their latest record is The Wishful Thinker’s Hall of Fame, which was released in October.

“We do absurdist bluegrass and old-time stuff,” Morris said. “I got really into the absurd nature of traditional music at some point and leaned into it hard.”

As many know, Debutants are also not your traditional bluegrass band, falling into the “newgrass” category. They released a pair of EPs, Indiana Newgrass in 2021 and Nobody Knows in 2022. Along with those songs, they might have some tricks up their sleeves since they recently recorded a new album.

“I think there is definitely going to be some stuff from the new album,” Nicholson said of the songs that could be played June 30. “Definitely going to be some old stuff and some stuff that we’ve never played … and should probably never play.”

For Morris, the strategy is a simple one.

“We’re gonna scare ’em and then let them destroy themselves,” he said. “We’re gonna come out of the gate with one hot song. Just one hot song is all it’s gonna take. Then they’re gonna be scared. They’re gonna be so scared they try to go too hard, too fast. They’re gonna wear themselves out. They’ll be worn out by song 3. Then it’ll just be a matter of watching them die at their own hands.”

Visual aide

If Morris’ bombastic description is not enough to illustrate the WWE nature of the show, perhaps the poster art for the show is, featuring one wrestler having another in a headlock, courtesy of Fort Wayne artist/musician/entrepreneur Jared Andrews.

“Jared Andrews always brings the heat when it comes to flyer art,” Nicholson said of his old bandmate from Elephant in Mud with fellow Debutant Jon Swain. “As soon as we knew it was going to be loosely pro wrestling themed, we knew our guy right away.”

While there won’t be anyone flying off the top ropes at Baker Street, there will no doubt be plenty of excitement.

“It’s definitely going to be a good time to get rowdy,” Nicholson said. “A good time to hoot and holler and talk some smack. Above all, it’s just going to be a lot of fun.”

And is Morris confident about facing off against Debutants in their home city? 

“Oh these chumps? Nah, we’re gonna bop ’em, we’re gonna twist ’em, we’re gonna pull ’em so bad that they go kicking and screaming back to the little junk ditch where they came from!”