I've been needing to write for weeks. Due to an onslaught of unfortunate circumstances one after the other I have failed to do so. Today, I surmount that obstacle simply for the fact that I am on the verge of spontaneously combusting. Both my faith in the Lord and love for raw, in-your-face live music have only grown stronger in the past 2 months. As much as I complain about the traffic and sheer overcrowding of Atlanta, living here has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities to enjoy the sounds that soothe the ear and the mind. Typically, in the past 2 months, its been all about BLUEGRASS. The music of Appalachia. The weapons of choice: the fiddle, five string banjo, mandolin, dobro, guitar and upright bass. An original of American music. Don't get me wrong, the blues is America's music, and Mississippi is the birthplace. To that I have no objection, (it'd be hard to after going to school a short drive from Robert Johnson's famous [or infamous] crossroads.) But Bluegrass was born in the Appalachians, reinforced and supported by the hymnals across the bible belt and continue to flow today throughout the country wherever an ear seeks a good ole fiddlin'. I tweeted about seeing "the big 3" recently. My residence in Atlanta has allowed me to see these smokin' hot bands reigning from Boston, Colorado and Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are 'The Infamous Stringdusters' (seen here at the Pink Garter in Jackson, WY)
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More to come on YMSB & GSBG later
Seeing the 'Dusters in Jackson was awesome, it set the stage and I knew what I was in for when I headed to Terminal West.
Listening to the Atlanta show right now via their website, I'm about to get up and do a jig. They just have this crisp, resonating sound that makes you want to shake your body wildly until you burst at the seams. The Dobro is the game changer. It makes the crunchiest, bluesiest acoustic slide-guitar tone one could imagine. To me, it perfectly bridges together the thumping bass line, the quick-picking of the banjo and the steady strum of the mandolin. It comes together in perfect harmony and evokes a primal hoot-n-holler, all the while dancing away a bad memory or cheers'ing to better ones. The crowd was a little stiff at the beginning of the first set. I thought to myself, "Certainly the bass thumpers and young dubstep kids aren't gonna like these things with strings called instruments." ICYMI Terminal West has an affinity for the "electronic music" popular of the day. Not my scene really. That's why I was glad to see a stringband take their plunge into the thriving music scene at this great venue. They played two steamrollin' sets containing several of my favorite tunes. "Gettin Down the Road" "Steam-Powered Aeroplane" "Fork in the Road." One of my favorite parts of the entire show was a song in set 2. "Fire" A wahwah pedal induced jam that at times sounded like a more badass acoustic Phish song (much like YMSB's cover of 'Sand') The song that followed was slow and drawn out in a good way. "High on a mountain top, winds blowin' free, thinking about the days that used to be." Sounding like a siren straight from Oh, Brother Where art Thou. BTW the craft beers (in cans) were flowing like water at this point. For me, this is all part of the bluegrass experience. Great beer, great people, great music, this is what it's all about. They absolutely crush each and every song. Individually, they are masters of their instrument. Collectively, they unite to bring a sound that's beauty can only be described or appreciated by using your ears, and embracing that sound we call music. And finally, they played "He's Gone"
How ridiculously ironic. Not only is it one of my favorite Grateful Dead tunes, but just having lost a VERY close friend of mine, this situation just made me close my eyes, look the sky, and say "thank you Lord." Thank you for letting me live one more day on this Earth, Thank you for letting me be able to lift my spirits through YOU, AND through this wonderful music. Also, I said thank you to Nick. I'm sure you had SOMETHING to do with this buddy. "Nothin' left to do but SMILE SMILE SMILE."
So we listened, we sang, we grinned, we danced, we cried. It was freaking awesome. Thank you to the Stringdusters. I happily await our next meeting fellas.
I leave you with a link to the Stringdusters recording "He's Gone" Infamous Stringdusters - He's Gone
and another: Gettin' Down the Road
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