The fertile spawning ground of east Tennessee has brought forward another strong young bluegrass band, ready to take a run at the professional touring market.
Midnight Run is four young men who are recent graduates of college bluegrass programs, and have honed their skills together performing regularly at the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery in Gatlinburg, TN. The Distillery features bluegrass music all day, every day, all through the year, and has served as the proving grounds for a number of bands who have made an impact on the national circuit. Monroeville, the Darrell Webb Band, and Po’ Ramblin’ Boys all worked out their stage shows doing multiple daily sets there over recent years.
For Midnight Run, the ticket has been a mix of their clever original numbers and bluegrass classics, along with tons of personality on stage.
The band consists of Seth Mulder on mandolin, Colton Powers on banjo, Ben Wattlington on guitar, and Max Etling on bass. Colton, Ben, and Max are graduates of the Bluegrass, Old Time & Country Music Studies program at ETSU, while Seth took his degree from the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music at the Hazard Community and Technical College. Max and Ben were part of the ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band while in school, their honors band for the program.
Here are a couple of live videos of Midnight Run in action to give you a taste of their hard driving bluegrass sound. First up is one written by Watlington called Don’t Let The Door Hit You On Your Way Out.
And a slightly comic version of Flatt & Scruggs’ Petticoat Junction.
Midnight Run has been playing together at Ole Smoky since 2015, and last year did their first extended run outside of the region when they did a three week tour of Ireland, Scotland, and England. They can be seen six days a week at the Distillery in Gatlinburg, but are booking now for 2020 and beyond in the wider bluegrass world.
You can reach the band online about bringing them to your part of the world.
There are additional videos and more details about the guys on their web site.
