Yee-ha! Tim Hughes gets a taste of anarchic barn dancing, courtesy of the Cut a Shine collective.

GRAB your partners and do-se-do. Yep, if you want to join the hip crowd, these days you need to go barn dancing.

Once the preserve of rednecks and yokels, Appalachian country dancing is the new cool. And leading the thigh-slapping charge are self-styled “anarchic hillbilly barn dancing squad”, Cut a Shine.

A riot of fiddles, banjos and double bass, they sound like they have stepped straight out of the Smokey Mountains, but in fact they hail from the East End of London. But don’t let that put you off.

Their goodtime dance nights have proved a massive hit in the capital, and are rapidly catching on elsewhere. Last year they played 22 festivals and kick off the new year with a show here in Oxford, playing the Old Book Binders in Green Street.

“We are all about giving people a good time,” says five-string banjo player Joe Buiski.

Joe, 33, was a rock guitarist until he picked up his dad’s banjo in his 20s, and acquired a passion for Americana.

“We set up Cut a Shine five-and-a-half-years ago, playing everywhere from warehouses to town halls, and it has gone from strength to strength.”

And the reason?

“There is not much social dancing these days,” he says. “Since rave, people have danced on their own. But barn dancing is all about interaction. It’s lively and lots of fun, but with a wholesome edge to it. We also have a tongue-in-cheek approach.

“And there’s definitely a resurgence; our gigs do sell out.”

Based around a core of six musicians, Cut A Shine’s numbers are frequently swelled by 10 dancers – all wearing the band’s trademark red gingham.

Rather than sticking strictly to mountain folk, the collective throw in lively Scottish and Irish tunes.

“We do lean to bluegrass though,” adds Joe, who will also be playing with his ‘soulgrass’ side-band Kidnap Alice. “Though we don’t take it too seriously. We are wild, anarchic and fun. Some country dance nights are very austere, but we don’t care if people get it wrong.

“Our name comes from an old Appalachian expression, where in rural communities people would really dress up and polish their shoes before a night out, and then dance so hard they would cut the shine off their shoes.

“Wear your dancing shoes – no high heels – and a flowing dress or gingham shirt.

“It’s sanctioned flirting; you get to meet everyone and dance with them.

“And there’s no better way to break the ice than to have a swing and a do-se-do!”

l A week tomorrow the Old Book Binders hosts a Baltic Gypsy night, and on February 7 it holds a Heavenly Records night with Sea of Bees.

The Old Book Binders also hosts the Truck Stop Café every Friday-Sunday from 10am-4pm.

But don’t leave it too long to visit. The building is scheduled for closure on March 31, after which it will be demolished and the site developed for flats.

* Cut A Shine play the OX4 Hoedown at the Old Book Binders, in Green Street, Oxford, on February 4