On Friday night, I fell in love with bluegrass all over again.
Going into the show, I didn’t know much about opener Blue Cactus or the main act, Town Mountain. I expected a traditional bluegrass sound –– something to appeal to the flannel-clad parents in the crowd around me. The bands delivered that and much more, performing a range of songs, from nostalgic twangy folk ballads to defiant country-rock toe-tappers, all injected with strikingly poignant lyricism.
(IMG: Blue Cactus)
Opening act Blue Cactus sprouted into the alt-country scene following the success of their eponymous album in 2017. Self-described “kindred spirit songwriters” bandmates Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez fuse traditional folk and country with a modern electric twang to create a sound that’s at once rock, folk, and psychedelic.
The duo’s performance was wonderful. Stewart’s soaring vocals and Arnez’s intricate guitar riffs created near-ethereal, entirely immersive soundscapes that transfixed the crowd. Their sound was evocative of Emmylou Harris’ Southern drawl combined with the dreamy instrumentation of the Beach Boys. The duo’s heartfelt lyricism and authentic story-telling enhance their folksy, psychedelic style, resulting in lushly layered, deeply personal songs. This immersive feeling intensified during their live performance, which further highlighted the duo’s musical talent and passion for their craft.
I admired the intentionality of the duo’s lyricism; every song performed had something to say. The set opened with the gunslinging “Finger on the Button,” which, in addition to an upbeat honky-tonk sound, wryly pokes fun at a certain political figure with lyrics like “and you got your creamsicle complexion / paid for your erection.”
The vast majority of the songs were earnest introspections on the people and places in the duo’s lives, however. “Worried Man,” a bluesy tribute to Stewart’s chronically fretful grandfather, was a standout for me. The song centered the complexity of loss following the death of a loved one whose antics may annoy you, until they’re gone. “Where’s the worried man to sing my song? / Troubled mind to hold my head?” mourns Stewart. The band closed with their newest single, “This Kind of Rain,” an ode to change and memory in hard times, a beautiful culmination of their artful lyricism and verdant orchestration.
Following Blue Cactus was Town Mountain, who built upon Blue Cactus’ alt-country sound to deliver a raucous set representative of a new era of Southern Appalachian bluegrass. Formed in 2005, the Asheville-based sextet was composed of a guitarist, fiddler, mandolinist, drummer, steel pedalist, and bass. The band’s sound is clearly rooted in traditional bluegrass, with lightning fast fiddling and mandolin-picking. Layered into this sound is twangy steel pedal riffs, driving drums, and original lyrics, resulting in a sound that rests on bluegrass’ foundations and reaches new heights.
I can’t put it any other way –– these guys can jam. Watching them trade melodies across the stage, hurling intricate phrases like hot potatoes, was exhilaratingly fun. Each member of the band got a chance to show off his bluegrass chops, from the mandolinist to the fiddler to the steel pedalist and back again. After a particularly intense solo, the fiddler snapped some of his bowstrings, and without hesitation, the steel pedalist simply picked up where the fiddle left off.
For an hour and a half, Cat’s Cradle was filled with boogie-woogie country. The band’s burning love ballad “I’m on Fire” was a crowd-pleaser; all around me, people sang along with the lead’s soulful voice, underscored by the lonesome fiddle. Town Mountain’s “American Family” kept with Blue Cactus’ themes of Southern solidarity, singing “cause we got each other’s backs, right down to the end / make no mistake, we’re thicker than friends / come as you are, and see what you see / united we all stand an American family.” The band ended with “Down Low,” sung by mandolinist Phil Barker with an electric passion.
Blue Cactus’ and Town Mountains’ abilities to draw experiences from their North Carolinian childhoods and convey them through song utterly bewitched the crowd (myself included). Each song was quintessentially country, grounded in the human experience and expressed through sheer musical talent, presenting an exciting trajectory for the future of modern bluegrass.
