Compass Records in Nashville has announced the signing of The Hillbenders, the young Missouri-based band whose motto is “making bluegrass hip again, one day at a time.”
They have made their name the old fashioned way, with a raucous stage show that won them the Telluride Bluegrass Band Championship and he National Single Microphone championship prior to the release of their debut album, Down To My Last Dollar, in 2010.
A new project, Can You Hear Me, is due from Compass on September 25, making it an IBMA week release.
The Hillbenders consist of Mark Cassidy on banjo, Gary Rea on banjo, Jim Rea on guitar, Nolan Lawrence on mandolin, and Chad Graves on resonator guitar.
Here’s a video of their encore at Grey Fox a few weeks ago to give a flavor of their live set.
