PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: When Pete Marshall, lead singer/guitarist for the Broken Prayers, intones “I got a little black heart and it’s full of hate” on the first track of 2008’s reverb-laden, lap steel-heavy, banjo-pickin’, very excellent Crow, it’s mostly sorrow and hurt you hear in his voice. Real sorrow. Visions of Dust Bowl-era depression dance through your head. Dogs howl. This is The Grapes of Wrath on tape—Son House’s “Death Letter” levels of pain. But Crow isn’t a complete downer. At times, it’s a full-on rockin’ stomp, a drunkin’ good time. Marshall’s plaintive yawp is just one of a hundred different ingredients that give this chili its kick. We asked Marshall about what informs the music of the Broken Prayers, who play live Saturday with another boss-hoss local act, Beretta 76. MORE