HARTFORD--If you listen closely while traveling through downtown Hartford on I-84, through the noise of honking horns, accelerations and decelerations, there is a sound that's music to your ears.
Musicians, most of whom haven't played since high school, gather to play under the viaduct bridge, right next to the Hartford Courant/FOX 61 building.
They are the Hartford Hot Several. A motley crew of men and women who play everything from horns and drums to washboards and plastic containers.
With asphalt, steel beams and concrete columns, the acoustics aren't great, but there's an appealing industrial feel to this setting.
"You could probably get a similar reverberation out of some wide open music halls," founding band member, J. Holt, said. "But you don't get the sound of the tractor-trailer truck at the same time."
They call themselves the Hartford Hot Several because the band is constantly evolving and growing. It started with five members and has exploded to more than 20.
They are Hartford's unofficial marching band with scheduled gigs. But they may surprise you one day--they love to crash parties and play.