West Virginia’s Bluegrass Outlaws have announced a new lineup for the 2019 season. The hard-driving, contemporary bluegrass group is still focused around the talents of husband-and-wife band leaders Chris Monk and Becky Webb Monk, with a new supporting cast in tow.
Chris remains on banjo and Becky on bass, with Joshua Raines on guitar, Andy Stinnett on mandolin, and Jacob Metz on reso-guitar. All three will share lead and harmony vocals with the Monks. Stinnett and Metz are currently enrolled in the ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies program, where they also perform with the ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band.
Speaking for the band, Becky tells us that this new team really clicks, and she is super excited to share their sound on stage.
“We are honored to have such a group of hard working talented musicians, we feel blessed beyond measure, and we can’t wait for everyone to hear the new outlaws!!!
We also have some brand new music coming soon. Stay tuned for more exciting news!!!”
So how did Indiana dobro man Andy Ruff score two gigs at the same time?
The answer is less complicated than you might guess. Owing to a band sharing arrangement between Nathan Stanley and The Bluegrass Outlaws, Andy is now playing with both groups, who make a point to work around each others’ schedules when booking.
The Outlaws, based in West Virginia share their bass player, Becky Webb Monk, and banjo player, Chris Monk, with Nathan, who lives in southwestern Virginia. Whichever band is working each week, there you’ll find Ruff sliding around on his reso-guitar along with Becky and Chris.
Becky, who sings lead for the Outlaws, had played with Andy before when they were both members of the Darrell Webb Band.
West Virginia’s Bluegrass Outlaws have announced the addition of Will Clark to the band on mandolin. He steps into the spot recently vacated by founding member Evan Maynard who had to leave the band owing to pesky day job commitments.
Will has been a regular on the bluegrass scene in his native South Carolina since he was just a youngster. An expert musician on banjo, guitar, and mandolin, he had performed previously with James King, Williams & Clark, and the Wilson Banjo Co. before joining up with the Outlaws. It is likely that his new group will also take advantage of his singing and songwriting ability.
He joins Chris Monk on banjo, Becky Webb on bass, Wesley Wolfe on guitar, and Cody Bauer on fiddle.
On behalf of the band, Becky welcomes Clark into the fold, saying “Will is a great fit for the band, and we are excited to have him aboard!”
The Bluegrass Outlaws play in the contemporary traditional, mash grass style favored by many young pickers in the south central US. Most of their material is original from within the band, and they were the winners of the 2016 SPBGMA International Bluegrass Band Championship.
Here they are playing one of Becky’s songs, No Regrets, before Will joined the group.
West Virginia’s Bluegrass Outlaws hit the scene hard when the band initially formed a few years ago. Shortly after they launched, the group fronted by Becky Webb Monk and her husband Chris, took first place at the 2016 SPBGMA Bluegrass Band Championship, and released a self-titled album.
They’ve been busy playing shows throughout the southeastern US, building a fan base with their tight, youthful, traditional bluegrass sound.
But now founding member and mandolinist Evan Maynard is having to step away from the group owing to new work commitments. He has gotten a good job with GE close to home, and won’t be able to honor all the dates they have booked for this year and beyond.
So The Outlaws have announced that they will be holding auditions to find a new member to take his spot. The successful applicant will be a pro-caliber mandolinist, able to sing lead and all the common bluegrass harmony parts, and comfortable with the contemporary, hard-driving style in which the band performs.
Anyone with a serious interest in auditioning should contact Becky through the band website or her Facebook page, and be prepared to send samples of their playing and singing to be considered. Tryouts with the full band will be scheduled soon.
You can find out more about The Bluegrass Outlaws and hear some of their music online.
This one is Another Rainy Monday, written and sung by mandolinist Evan Maynard. It’s a lovely, mid-tempo song about a traveling musician reflecting sadly on his loneliness as the rain falls outside.
Alongside Maynard, the Outlaws are Chris Monk on banjo, Becky Webb Monk on bass, Wesley Wolfe on guitar, and Cody Bauer on fiddle.
You can hear the song below in this static video from CD Baby.
The album is available for sale wherever you find bluegrass music, and to radio programmers at Airplay Direct.
Several years ago, a sibling band based out of Florida took the bluegrass world by storm when they won the 2012 SPGBMA Band Competition and set off on a powerful career that recently earned them a number of IBMA Awards, including Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Unless you’ve been living under a rock with your Bill Monroe box set, you probably know that this group is Flatt Lonesome.
Could a similar path to success be in the stars for the Bluegrass Outlaws, this year’s SPBGMA Band Competition winners? The group, fronted by husband and wife team Becky Webb Monk and Chris Monk, jumped head first into the bluegrass world after taking home first place during what was essentially their first public performance as a band. They recently released their debut, self-titled album, a twelve-track collection that favors the popular, mash-grass style.
The record is a solid mixture of original material and a few bluegrass favorites, often rendered in a straight-ahead, in-your-face style that fans of the modern traditional sound should enjoy. Chris’s banjo gets things started on No Regrets, a “take this job and shove it” tale sung forcefully by Becky. As she sings lines like “I’ve leavin’ here with no regrets, I’ve put in all my time. I’ve paid my dues, I’m out of here, no worries on my mind,” she sounds like she means it – she’s got better things to do, so she’s moving on. She wrote both this song and several others on the album, including Raging Storms, a similarly powerful number about a treacherous flood.
The lead single, Upper Big Branch Mine, was penned by Becky and Chris along with Becky’s brother Darrell Webb. It’s a dark number based on a 2010 mine disaster in West Virginia in which an explosion killed twenty-nine miners. The well-written song is a highlight of the album, and will likely touch home with many bluegrass fans, especially those in the Appalachian region. Special mention should go to Chris, whose banjo sets a tragic, haunting mood from the first notes. He also gets to show off his picking on his original instrumental, Timbercove, which allows all the band members to display some fiery, aggressive instrumentation.
Mandolin player Evan Maynard also contributed a pair of originals to the album, both of which are standout tracks. The mid-tempo Another Rainy Monday captures a life where “the forecast stays the same, broken hearts and pouring rain.” It’s a nicely-written portrait of a man who tries to escape his sadness on the weekends with “another dark haired girl who wants to hear another song,” but always ends up facing his loneliness when Monday rolls around. Ring on the Table is a strong number with a classic bluegrass theme – a no-good cheating woman, a husband with a gun… you get the picture. Maynard has a warm, smooth, country-style voice that works well with Becky’s commanding high lonesome vocals when the two harmonize.
The band dips into the classic bluegrass catalog for two tracks in the middle of the album. They give Down the Road a groove-filled, forceful vibe with some nice fiddle work from Cody Bauer. Bauer also gets to shine on Tennessee Blues, which lets the band try their hand at a slightly different sound – still traditional-leaning, but more delicate than the other material here. It’s an enjoyable version, reminiscent of Josh Williams’s cut of the song.
The Bluegrass Outlaws also offer up two Gospel songs, both written by Becky. God’s Watching Over You has a gentle, acoustic country sound and uses the words of a wise old man to remind both the singer and listeners that God is always there for us. Straight & Narrow Way, on the other hand, is a peppy toe-tapper and a fine example of traditional bluegrass Gospel. Clocking in at just over two minutes, it closes the album on an upbeat note.
The Bluegrass Outlaws is filled with skilled pickers who embrace energetic performances. Chris has a fine, driving style, while Becky keeps a strong, consistent rhythm on bass. Maynard, Bauer, and guitarist Wesley Wolfe prove that they can handle both fast traditional grass and more melodic, country-influenced songs with ease. Their debut is strong, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.
Though the album has been available for a little over a month, the Bluegrass Outlaws will celebrate with an official release party at the Down Home, a traditional music venue in Johnson City, TN, this Saturday, October 29. For more information about the band and their new album, visit www.bluegrassoutlaws.com.
The Bluegrass Outlaws have made a lot of big steps since forming at the beginning of this year. The talented group won the 2016 SPBGMA Band Championship in February, and have now been signed to Wilson Pickin’s Bluegrass Promotions for representation.
Based in East Tennessee, the band epitomizes the powerful, “mash style” so prevalent in that part of the country. Aggressive instrumentation and a fanatical devotion to the groove lay behind the strong vocals of Becky Webb Monk, with her husband Chris Monk on banjo, Wesley Wolfe on guitar, Evan Maynard on mandolin, and Cody Bauer on fiddle.
They have released a first single to radio from their upcoming album. Upper Big Branch Mine was written by Becky and Chris, with help from her brother Darrell Webb. It tells the true story of the Massey Energy mining disaster in West Virginia on April 5, 2010, where 29 of 31 men were killed when a coal explosion caused a cave in. Becky and Darrell’s dad was a coal miner in West Virginia, and so was Chris’ in Virginia.
You can get an opening taste of the tragic tale in this sample…
Their full, self-titled, debut album is set to release September 5. You can find out more about The Bluegrass Outlaws on their web site.
Here’s a look at The Bluegrass Outlaws, the winners of the 2016 International Band Championship at last weekend’s National SPBGMA Convention in Nashville.
The band is fronted by Becky Monk on bass with her husband Chris Monk on banjo, Wesley Wolfe on guitar, Evan Maynard on mandolin, and Cody Bauer on fiddle. They are based in Sevierville, TN.
Becky is sister to Darrell Webb, and worked with his group over the past year. You can really see and hear the family resemblance.
The video was shot during a showcase performance at SPBGMA in the suite sponsored by Bluegrass On The Plains and Mountain Fever Records. It’s a song Becky wrote called No Regrets.
All the performances at this very active showcase suite were shot using multiple cameras, so look for much more video to be popping up from there over the next few weeks.
