The Groove Thief

Elephant Revival play acoustic neo-folk, blissfully beautiful multi-layered music that is often completely chilled-out, yet thankfully for ears like mine they are not afraid of uptempo dancier tunes either.  Hailing from Nederland, Colorado, they represent my home-state well, and truly thrive in the live environment.  Given that, here are some recent live performances of theirs, including a spectacular full concert via DittyTV and a radio show courtesy of KBUT Community Radio.  As a bonus, there’s a nice remix from Emancipator cleverly called “Elephant Survival.”  This is intimate bluegrass played by master musicians, amongst the best of the current crop of future-forward new-grass:

Watch a full live show on DittyTV

The Infamous Stringdusters are harnessing social media in an interesting way to promote their upcoming album Silver Sky.  When each track collects enough ‘Likes’ on Facebook it will open up the next one for streaming.  Right now the first track “Don’t Mean Nothin’,” an upbeat rollicking bluegrass track, is ready for your listening pleasure.  The band is also promoting their album via Pledge Music, so when enough people pledge to purchase the album (with plenty of other bonuses for additional pledges including shout-outs, setlists, and even private concerts) it will become available, potentially before the actual release date.  The Infamous Stringdusters play hard-hitting music, certainly it’s got a twang but it’s well-polished and played with passion.

In case the name Goat Rodeo doesn’t excite you, this is Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and Stuart Duncan.  They are all heavyweights in their own right (and genre), but they’ve united here as a bluegrass-fusion supergroup.  Cello, bass, mandolin and fiddle… here’s three live tracks (two instrumental) of awesome from an NPR Tiny Desk Concert:

This has been out for a bit, but it cleverly combines two disparate genres: Bluegrass and Gangsta Rap.  Yep, that means it’s Gangstagrass.  Perhaps not the best from either style, but it is an interesting sound nonetheless:

Gangstagrass Feat. T.O.N.E.-z: Give It Up by Rench

Modest Mouse meets bluegrass? Yes.  Iron Horse are infamous for their bluegrass renditions of “classic bands” (Metallica, Guns N Roses, Led Zeppelin, Goo Goo Dolls), which are often cheesy, indulgent, and unnecessary.  Thankfully their album of Modest Mouse covers, witty and insightful originally, lose none of their charm in these multi-stringed renditions.  The vast majority of the album is fantastic, “Polar Opposites,” “Ocean Breathers Salty,” “Dramamine,” and “A Different City” are certainly standouts, but there’s thankfully no blatant musical tragedies here despite the seemingly clashing genres.

More about Iron Horse’s culturally-infused bluegrass HERE.