Mischief Brew & Guignol

Sun., Dec. 20, 6 p.m., $10, with Mirrors & Wires, The Barbary, 951 N. Frankford Ave., r5productions.com.

by John Vettese

rock/pop

There's so much nomadic simpatico, you could say collaboration was inevitable. On the one side, you've got Upper Darby's hard-touring Erik Petersen, who deals out grizzled folk-punk in Mischief Brew, and twice used the image of a guitar-slinging hobo for album art. On the other side, Brooklyn accordion virtuoso Franz Nicolay. He started out in anarchic carney troupe World/Inferno Friendship Society, moved to a more commercially lucrative (if less musically interesting) keyboard gig in The Hold Steady and does vibrant gypsy rock on his own in Guignol. The two are longtime buds; in 2005, Nicolay and Guignol backed "A Liquor Never Brewed" on Mischief Brew's CD Smash the Windows, while Petersen's label, Fistolo Records, released Guignol's Drink the Best Wine First CD. Their forthcoming project, Guignol & Mischief Brew Fight Dirty, is a true meeting of the wanderlusting minds: Brew and Guignol functioning as a single band with Petersen and Nicolay swapping songwriting duties. "It took a long time to develop, we didn't know if it was going to be a 7", EP or what," says Petersen over e-mail."Somehow we banged out a full-length!" Also in the mix are covers of songs by Django Reinhardt ("Appel Direct") and Iron Maiden ("Hallowed Be Thy Name"), which they damn well better play in their joint appearance at The Barbary this Sunday, since who knows when they'll next be in the same place at the same time?