Mountain Grass Unit is a young progressive bluegrass band that has been taking the jamgrass scene by storm, with a tour schedule most any grassers would envy. This weekend they are performing at Bonaroo in Tennessee, and are out this summer supporting Dierks Bentley in a number of cities.
One thing that separates them from many of the groups that rise quickly in modern string music circles is their thorough grounding in bluegrass, and the obvious virtuosity they have developed on their instruments. Plus they are strong vocalists, and even sing with a southern accent!
Another unique aspect of the band is that it is made up of three young men who have been friends since childhood, and who learned to play music together from a tender age. Mandolinist Drury Anderson, guitarist and banjo picker Luke Black, and bassist Sam Wilson all come from Birmingham, AL, and knew that music would be their passion long before they could drive. With supportive families, they studied bluegrass and other musical forms before entering high school.
Anderson and Black are also recent graduates of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where they honed their musical eduction, only to return to Alabama and reunite with Wilson to form Mountain Grass Unit. Adding fiddler Josiah Nelson made them a quartet, and their demonstrative live show and skills at extended improvisation has won them fans all over the country.
Their debut album with Dualtone Records, Appalachian Smoke, is due in August, and they have released a trio of singles all at once to get the word out. The singles form an EP release, with all of the tracks also set to be included on the full album.
One of those three, Window for a Friend, has an accompanying music video, a clever little project that includes footage of the guys when they were first starting to play together, on up though their teens, and into adulthood. Existing fans of the group will get a charge out of seeing the guys in the childhood, while newer ones can get a good look at how they made it to this point.
And, of course, hear what they are up to now.
Check it out.
The EP, carrying the simple title Mountain Grass Unit, is available now from the usual streaming services. Pre-orders for Appalachian Smoke are likewise enabled, on CD or LP, ahead of its August 28 release.
