From Johnson City, TN comes Pythagoras, a talented young group formed by students in the bluegrass program at ETSU. Their band name has less to do with the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, and more with the classic Carlton Haney video of him trying to explain the Pythagorean theorem, as it relates to bluegrass, to Jimmy Martin.
Pythagoras, the band, likes to call themselves representatives of progressive bluegrass, but judging by their first video releasee, Simplicity, they sound pretty mainstream to me, with a fresh and original take. Written and sung by guitarist Grant Dresnok, it tells a familiar tale of moving on when a romance falls apart.
The five members all met in their first year in the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies Program at ETSU. Though they all live now in east Tennessee, they came from different parts of the country to get there. Dresnok is from Maine, fiddler Gracie Mae Grossman is from Indiana, mandolinist Joe Henson from Georgia, and bassist Lexi Wagnitz from New Hampshire. Their focus is original bluegrass, and the band has their first album, perspicaciously titled Theorem, due in September.
They’ve had a busy summer, just finishing up a two-week tour of Ireland organized by ETSU and Uri Kohen of the Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival, and are in the midst of a “hometown” tour in Indiana to play Gracie’s haunts. Next month Pythagoras is headed to the northeast to perform for folks who know Grant and Lexi.
The Simplicity video finds the band in the recording studio at ETSU picking and singing. Check it out.
Look for Simplicity to appear on the Theorem project in September.
You can learn more about Pythagoras, and follow their show dates, by visiting them online.
