Police Women of Maricopa County Arrests Member of Local Band Hashknife Outfit

Hashknife Outfit.

​Last night I was minding my own business when I received a text message saying, "See the stars of Police Women of Maricopa County Wed. Apr. 21st at the Yucca Tap with Hashknife Outfit, Tony Martinez and Barefoot and Preggers."

Given that New Times updates us weekly on the show, my interest was sparked. Would said women be attending the show? Why would said women want to go Tempe's best-known music bar? How would it affect the overall coolness of the Yucca if police women started to go there?

By asking a few brief but important questions to Jeremy M. of Hashknife Outfit, my fears were quickly quelled. It turns out that members of Hashknife Outfit were the stars in question. No, they don't secretly have policewomen as members of their band. It turns out that guitarist/banjoist/singer Jeremy and bassist Paul (also known as Good Neighbor, the irony of which will be revealed momentarily) were featured on episode #6 of the show, titled "You're High as a Kite." The episode featured the arrest of Good Neighbor, as well as a motel shooting, the removal of a teen from his foster home, and the bust of a gang member.

Since I was unable to catch this episode of the show, I asked Jeremy for a brief synopsis of what happened. He told me that his roommate/bandmate Good Neighbor was being arrested on deadbeat dad charges. According to him, "The police woman gets a tattoo of her kid's name, then comes to arrest Good Neighbor. The police swarm the house and I answer the door. I then lie to the cops that he's not here. They're about to leave, then the camera crew finds him hiding behind the recycle bin. They threaten to tase him, then put him in cuffs. The police woman hates liars (me) but sympathizes with Neighbor. But the law is the law."

Evidently the sympathy comes in because, also according to Jeremy, "[Good Neighbor is] a great dad that has an ex with a really good lawyer."

So to recap: The bassist in local bluegrass/Americana band Hashknife outfit was arrested on TLC by the famed policewomen of Maricopa County, but in order to avoid being arrested, he hid behind a recycling bin while his roommate, who happens to be in the same local band, lied to the cops and said he wasn't there. This is the stuff that TMZ is made of.

You gotta love a band that can make light of themselves. In the words of their outspoken frontman, "I told [Good Neighbor that] getting arrested on national television could only do great things for the band."

You can see Hashknife Outfit tonight at the Yucca Tap Room with Tony Martinez and Barefoot and Pregnant.