From Seattle comes The Warren G Hardings, a modern bluegrass group who grew up following the lead of the founding fathers of the progressive grass movement. Calling themselves a dance stringband, they play a high-energy style based on original music written within the group.
Their second album is recently released, Road To Nowhere, which they have shared with us in the form of a lyric video.
Bassist Andrew Knapp filled us in on what the band has been up to since we last heard from them.
“The last year has been a whirlwind for The Warren G. Hardings since we started work on the new album. We took some time to focus on writing/arranging, toured the Western US to cities we had never been before, and were fortunate enough to play many of our favorite NW festivals including Northwest String Summit, North Cascades Bluegrass, Steamboat Stringband Jamboree, Bluegrass from the Forest, Sacajawea Bluegrass, and Bridgetown Bluegrass, culminating with two sets at the incredible Wintergrass International Music Festival 2020.
Our 2nd Studio Album Road to Nowhere has been years in the making. Our goal is to capture the growth of the band since the release of Get A Life, while paying homage to the songs that got us here. We like to think of it as a snapshot in time. Many of the tracks on the album are songs we have been playing for years with new arrangements, including covers of MGMT and Alan Jackson. We wanted to capture these songs before moving forward as we continue to write new material. We decided to return to Empty Sea Studios in Seattle to work with the magnanimous Michael Connolly, and with his guiding hand at the helm we fine-tuned our arrangements and laid them down. Road to Nowhere was mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering.”
Knapp is joined by Gabriel Marowitz on mandolin, Heath Reinhard on banjo, Joe Ellington on guitar, and Lee Callender on fiddle. Like most live entertainers in this country, they will be staying home this evening, as their planned St Patrick’s Day gig was canceled as a part of coronavirus precautions.
But fans can pick up a copy of Road To Nowhere, on CD or as a download from the Hardings’ web site, or through your favorite download or streaming service online.
