A few tunes from the standard repertoire appear, but few of the songs have been heard before. It also likely helps that most of the material is new.
#Meet me at the crossroads song full#
Happily, there’s nothing to be disappointed about on these tracks they’re full of life, maybe given a boost by a collective sense of cabin fever. One-off bands like these can be like wrapped presents: lots of promise on the outside, but what’s inside might or might not meet expectations. It’s not surprising, then, that Bluegrass at the Crossroads is good, but it is striking how much fun it is to listen to.
Turn your ear to a record from any performer on Bluegrass at the Crossroads and you’ll hear these influences effortlessly knit into the songs and arrangements. Other bands choose reach into the past to create new interpretations of Celtic music, old-time, classic country, and Tin Pan Alley. It’s easy to pick out classical music, jazz, indie rock, folk, metal, even electronic music, in the sounds of some of today’s bands. Music in general has become so cross-pollinated that you never know what you’ll find on another musician’s playlist or turntable, and as more musicians and producers jump their creative tracks to explore different genres, bringing their tastes and vocabularies along with them, they’re invariably influenced by the new sounds and ideas they encounter, and they exert their own influence in return.īluegrass is good at absorbing new ideas while holding on to its identity - the sometimes regrettable, sometimes successful, move of giving the bluegrass treatment to rock and pop hits is a perfect example – and so, as the music grows, bluegrass musicians of all kinds freely pull new ideas from all directions, incorporate them into their own expressions of the style, and wind up with something that is still absolutely bluegrass. And, since touring has been largely benched for the time being, this is the moment to gather these threads together, invite great players into the studio for new creative partnerships, and press “record.” As a result, there’s enough range within the genre that a gap exists to be filled by an ongoing project of this kind. Bluegrass styles cover a remarkable amount of ground - from Red, White, and Bluegrass to Red Rocks, if you will - while still remaining totally recognizable as the genuine article. The label’s team gets that this homegrown stylistic breadth is a great asset, and they aren’t shy in their commitment to the highly cooperative, big-tent view of bluegrass that’s proudly on display in the series.
#Meet me at the crossroads song series#
Mountain Home’s new series of releases, Bluegrass at the Crossroads, takes advantage of this by putting these artists together in unique and intriguing combinations to record mostly new music. The prevailing attitude in the building, among staff and artists alike, is decidedly forward-looking the music these groups and artists create is mutually influential, and the territory between them fertile ground for collaboration.
Their rosters are musically diverse - a reflection of the music-rich mountains of Western North Carolina where the label group is based - thanks to the effort they’ve put into signing adventurous bands that redraw musical boundaries on stage every night, along with artists that are able to sound like themselves while keeping tradition’s torches shining. Over the last several years, it’s been fun watching the rapid creative growth happening at sister labels Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records.