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Pert Near Sandstone was one of the invited showcase acts during IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in September, bringing their interesting mix of old time and Americana string band music to Nashville for the first time.
We spoke with band members Kevin Kniebel and and Nate Sipe about how they came to traditional mountain music from their various musical backgrounds, and introducing younger audiences to old time and bluegrass-flavored sounds.
We discussed their upcoming band album, Catch Me If I Try, their first record in more than four years. Look for it November 6.
Kenny also shared a few details about his new side project with Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby. They did a surprise set Saturday night at Fan Fest, with Rob McCoury on banjo, billed as The Rambling Rooks.
Not sure if that name will stick, but the music was mighty powerful.
We have a good many more video interviews shot at IBMA, which will be posted here over the next week or so. You can see all of our 2012 World of Bluegrass coverage here.
But even when he’s not at his best, he’s very, very good.
Tuesday night was one of those times when Junior wasn’t at his best, at least according to Junior himself, but you’d have a hard time convincing the full house at his after-hours showcase and live radio broadcast for WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.
“I can do better than that, and you know it,” he told me after the set with his band, Rambler’s Choice. The problem, he said, was that he had to oversing at performances earlier in the day because the band wasn’t wearing their in-ear monitors and he couldn’t hear himself without belting out the words.
When he spoke, it was clear his voice was stressed. But when he stepped up to the microphone, all seemed fine as he ripped through a set that included Working Hard Ain’t Hardly Working Anymore, Who Done It, Don’t Fall in Love With Me Little Darlin’ and A Far Cry From Lester and Earl. Junior co-wrote that last song, saying he added the third verse while sitting in a deer stand. He didn’t get a deer that day, he said. “But I did get a pretty good song.”
The best performance came on Another Man’s Arms, which was written by Russell Johnson, who just happened to be in the audience. Junior described it as “the perfect bluegrass song,” given that it deals with cheating, prison and “a little bit of killing.”
And then Junior just killed it.
