2015 has already proven a busy year for “hard drivin’ Carolina string band” Town Mountain, who recorded the group’s fifth studio album in Louisiana this January with producer and engineer Dirk Powell (out later this year). Before setting off on an extensive national tour this summer and fall, the group will play a hometown show with Leo Kotke, Mipso and Hot Rize for UpRizing at Pisgah Brewing Co.’s outdoor stage. The event takes place on Saturday, May 23, at 4 p.m. Tickets are $30/$35 with VIP available. Click here for information or tickets.
The video below, recorded by Hype Music Festivals at the 2015 Suwannee Springfest in Florida, shows the band playing “Wildbird” from the forthcoming album:
Here is the full release from the band:
Town Mountain’s hard drivin’ bluegrass sound, tight harmonies, and stellar in-house songwriting have become the band’s trademark. They light up the stage with their honky tonk edge and barroom swagger, featuring a Jimmy Martin-style bounce and confidence that is countered at times by a laid-back John Hartford-esque groove. Town Mountain includes Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, and Nick DiSebastian on bass. In January 2015 Town Mountain traveled to south Louisiana, to record their 5th studio album, with producer/engineer Dirk Powell. This project will be released later this year.
They released their first official live album, Town Mountain: Live At The Isis, on August 19th, 2014. The concert was recorded in their hometown of Asheville, NC at Isis Music Hall. The album features live versions of previously released studio material including crowd favorites “Lawdog,” “Tarheel Boys” and the fiddle tune “Four Miles.” Amidst the original songs are a couple of lively Town Mountain-tweaked covers such as “The Race Is On” and “Orange Blossom Special.” The audio was mixed by Scott Vestal, acclaimed banjoist with the Sam Bush Band, who also mixed their fourth studio album Leave The Bottle [Pinecastle Records 2012].
The group has focused on the goal of creating a unique sound and brand while still giving a nod and a wink to the traditional side of the bluegrass genre. Juli Thanki of Engine 145 says, “Phil Barker’s ‘Lawdog’ sounds like an unearthed classic, and the group’s tight harmonies alone make this record [Leave the Bottle] a treat for any bluegrass fan.” Town Mountain was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2014 Award for “Emerging Artist of The Year” following last year’s honor of receiving IBMA Momentum Awards for “Band of the Year” and lead singer Robert Greer for “Vocalist of the Year.”
“I feel like we’re closer to original bluegrass than a lot of bands out there today,” says Langlais. “I listened to a radio show recently that featured Ricky Skaggs and he flat-out said that Bill Monroe influenced rock and roll. He said that folks like Elvis and Carl Perkins and those guys were looking up to Bill Monroe. So, I feel like our band has a lot of that influence as well, of the blues and early rock. If you go back and listen to Monroe pre-Chuck Berry, those are Chuck Berry licks. A lot of music in the 1940s and 50s was so over-lapping. It is easy to put genre labels on it today, 60 years later. But to be honest, it was all so new and it was influencing each other at the same time.”
Town Mountain is in it for the long haul.. check out out where they’ll be travelin’ to this year and stay tuned to TownMountain.net for complete tour dates. For updates from the road please visit facebook.com/TownMountain.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.