Bluegrass, like all genres nowadays, has gone through quite a bit of revamping in the last few years. Traditional styles are less frequent on the touring circuit, drums are common in most band lineups and long space jams often dominate second sets. Yeehaws have been more or less replaced with whoo-hoos. Though while some bands have chosen to go completely off the deep end making newgrass become spacegrass, and others find themselves too timid to change with the times at all, both Sam Bush and Railroad Earth successfully blend the old with the new in perfect unison. Although the predominantly older, more subdued audience remained seated for the entire evening, it made for a delightfully relaxing Sunday night in Boston, and both bands seemed to revel in the attentiveness they received.
The Somerville Theatre filled in nicely as Railroad Earth took the stage. Opening their set with the crowd pleasing "Dandelion Wine," RRE eased into their signature sound, filling the old theatre with pristine clarity. While many bluegrass bands have a tendency to possess vocals of a somewhat acquired taste, RRE captivates the crowd with beautiful harmonies as demonstrated on their two official releases -
The Black Bear Sessions and
Bird in a House. Building off the quickly growing energy of the crowd, they launched into perhaps the best song of the set; the destined to be classic "Colorado." The epitome of traditional bluegrass meeting contemporary interpretations, the song is reminiscent of a ’97 String Cheese Incident, when that band was just coming into their own, discovering new sounds and slowly beginning to fully develop their bluegrass standards. You can feel RRE’s potential to over explore a jam and extend it past necessary points just to appease the masses, but thankfully, at least for now, they appear to be in control of their collective surroundings…focusing on songwriting and melodies, rather than easily sellable techno-fiddle.
When you go to see a mandolin player that has received the list of awards and the level of recognition as Sam Bush has, you know you’re in for some tasty picking, but those unfamiliar with Sam’s band may not expect the intensity of power and rock that they can deliver. With the ferocity of a speeding freight train, the Sam Bush Band barrel through uncharted territory, leaving you breathless just watching them. Newcomer Brad Davis on acoustic and electric made his presence known early, laying his raw Texas style into "Mr. Freddy", while Byron House tore up "King of the World" and others on his cache of basses. As intense as the set got, Sam was still able to captivate the audience on his own as he performed the Dylan classic "Girl of the Northern Country" in an intimate solo portion of the show. It was the perfect rest the crowd needed as the main dish of the night came in the form of an "Old Joe Clark" > "Jungle Boogie tease" > "I’m Your Captain" > "Old Joe Clark" monster that was both fierce and fun…the way only Sam can create.
All photos courtesy of Rosalie McPhall.
