It can now be confirmed. The long-rumored and oft-promised debut CD from Ned Luberecki and Stephen Mougin will be available in late September, roughly during the IBMA World Of Bluegrass convention in Nashville.
This is a side project for these noted industry pros. Luberecki is the regular banjo player with Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, an in-demand instructor, and a regular host on Sirius-XM’s Bluegrass Junction 24/7 bluegrass station. Mougin holds down the guitar slot with Sam Bush, and also operates Dark Shadow Recording, which both functions as a full-service studio and the publisher of a line of audio CD instructional methods.
These guys know what’s up, OK? Both are talented multi-instrumentalists, songwriters, vocalists and entertainers – and they complement each other’s skills in many ways. Ned is a natural comedian, and Stephen a soulful singer. Together they create music that is insightful one moment, and hilarious the next.
The album is Nedski & Mojo, the name of their duo act, and the much-easier-to-figure-out-and-pronounce monikers they have adopted as nicknames. The music largely follows the theme of their live shows, with the pair alternating lead vocals and swapping out instruments in a set of original music. Ned has two new banjo instrumentals, and the songs (save 1) are written by the two of them, either jointly, on their own, or with capable co-writers like Jon Weisberger, Jenee Fleenor, Justin Carbone, and Craig Market.
You can see the lighter side in these songs from Ned…
… and the more serious in this performance of Stephen’s Find Another Way To Get To You on Music City Roots this past March.
We’ll be looking forward to hearing the music from Nedski & Mojo, and hope to have some audio samples to share soon on Bluegrass Today.
