Stillhouse Junkies photo © Renee Cornue Studio
Whenever a Bluegrass Ramble showcase artist sets the World of Bluegrass convention on its ear, you can generally expect to see them rewarded with a label deal as a result. Sometimes it happens during the convention, but more often, within a few weeks after IBMA is concluded.
Stillhouse Junkies were that band this year. Everyone who saw their high energy show in Raleigh, which features a wide range of roots music flavors in a trio environment, came away with a life long memory. You’d hear bluegrass, with blues and swing influences, played and sung with fiddle, guitar/mandolin, and upright bass. The old expression that you really have to see and hear it for yourself absolutely applies here, as words fail in describing how powerful this group was in multiple showcase performances at WOB.
All that clearly caught the eye and ear of Stephen Mougin at Dark Shadow Recording, who has announced today that they have signed Stillhouse Junkies to a contract with the label.
Mougin described his reaction with the same sort of superlatives we used above.
“The Stillhouse Junkies knocked me out with their showcase in Raleigh at the IBMA convention. I’m excited about their energy and unapologetic musical presentation. There is so much creativity and flexibility in the band, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with in the studio!”
In addition to their shows at World of Bluegrass, the band also collected the 2021 Momentum Band of the Year award, given to highlight professional artists with great promise during the early stages of their career.
Stillhouse Junkies hail from Durango, CO, and got their start playing regularly at a brewery there in town. Alissa Wolf plays fiddle, Cody Tinnin is on bass, and Fred Kosak plays mandolin and guitar. All three take turns as lead and harmony vocalists, giving them a wide range of tonal choices.
And the band says they think they have found a good home with Dark Shadow, and the close knit atmosphere in the company run by Stephen Mougin and his wife, Jana, both experienced bluegrass performers in their own right.
“We are thrilled and delighted beyond words to be joining the DSR family and can’t wait to see where this partnership will take us and our music. We’re inspired and honored to be included amongst such an incredible roster of artists and musical heroes and to be the beneficiaries of Stephen and Jana’s creativity, passion, and deep musical experience.”
Here’s a taste of their music, a video produced last year of a song called Mountains of New Mexico shot by Rees Gibbons.
Expect to hear a lot more from Sillhouse Junkies and DSR soon. They are currently in pre-production for a debut project together, loosely scheduled for September 2022.
