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The Steep Canyon Rangers showed how bluegrass was traditionally made, but only briefly, on Sunday at Music Haven. They clustered around what they called “the big mic” to harmonize close in, playing dobro, guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and acoustic bass – like Jerry Douglas and his Earls of Leicester a few seasons ago here.
The very big crowd ate this up with both hands, claps, and cheers – as they devoured everything Sunday. But the North Carolina sextet was less Bill Monroe vintage than Dixie Dregs zip or “American Beauty”-era Grateful Dead pastoral. Just as Bruce Hornsby (who toured with them for years) said the Grateful Dead was a jazz band playing rock ’n’ roll, the Steep Canyon Rangers often played like a jam band making bluegrass.
Not that they lacked for up-hollow authenticity. Intricate playing, plaintive singing, solos that soared, songs that soothed or stung – they brought the whole wagon-load.
But in a role reversal from the common stereotype, young openers Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman made musical antiques while the Steep Canyon Rangers veterans took the thing over the moon. (Hereafter, just SCR.) While Brown played banjo in the Appalachian frailing style, for example, SCR banjoist Graham Sharp played in the more modern Scruggs style.
Consider “Afterglow.” They packed more notes into those five minutes than some bands manage in a whole show. Everything hit right in place and right on time, a compelling roll as propulsive as the Dead in full flight. So did “Tell the Ones I Love” a few songs later – intrepid, pulsating, thrilling jams.
“Afterglow” hit early, following only a ripping instrumental opener, then the set’s first vocal (by bassist Barrett Smith) in “Come Dance.” So they reached an impressive altitude just three songs into a nearly two hour long show that played like a highlight film.
By which I mean everything was tops.
If touring with Steve Martin arguably made the North Carolina sextet bigger stars, they shone plenty bright on their own. (Martin’s birthday was Sunday, also NRBQ’s Terry Adams and David Crosby – more on that later.)
The best bluegrass balances self-effacing unity with a dynamic division of labor. SCR displayed virtuoso quality in both. With everybody chugging hard – chopping short riffs, like a soul band – they gave great lift, and they wowed in the solos.
First among equals here, for sheer run-around energy and fast riffing to match, was ferocious fiddler Nicky Sanders, a masked marvel, a wild whirl. He first strutted his hyper-active stuff in their instrumental opener and happily grabbed the spotlight whenever his solo spots came up in the rotation, giving big motion and emotion. He often linked up with mandolinist Mike Guggino in jazz combo-like riff echoes. But everybody – I mean everybody – cracked the sound barrier in songs that called for blinding velocity.
When they slowed, though, especially in the sad ballads banjoist Graham Sharp sang in a deadpan baritone, the whole band and soloists went full pathos. When Sharp sang “Honey on My Tongue,” wishing his daughter well as she goes out into the world where he can no longer have her back, he sounded both proud and mournful.
Guitarist Aaron Burdett also shone in the slow ones, as in a waltz whose title I couldn’t catch, as Sharp played electric-guitar-sounding licks on a plugged-in resonator banjo.
Bassist Smith’s vocal drove “Tell the Ones I Love,” a hard-charging train song with an elastic tempo that raced and relaxed. Sharp laughed when a big moth flew into his shirt in this jaunty up-tune and he freed it without missing a note.
In the plaintive “Pennies on the Tracks,” guitarist Burdett sang sympathetically about convict labor building a dangerous railroad line as drummer Mike Ashworth sang harmony. Harmony singing was another strength throughout, but let’s give the drummer some, right here. Foursquare in the straight-ahead numbers, he played with power and skill. His fatback beats kicked “In The Next Life” down the tracks hard; again, like a soul band, then pushed and pulled the tempo.
Ashworth was also aces when he left the kit, on a rear riser that bassist Smith sometimes shared. He came out front to play dobro, and well, too – as in the quiet “Be Still Moses” sung together around the “big mic.” Here they stretched the beat and slowed, going quieter and quieter in a way that drew everyone into the song. They held the mood in Sharp’s bittersweet “Honey on My Tongue.”
SCR graciously brought out openers Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman for “Squirrel Hunters,” an all-hands hoe-down that stalled a bit when Sharp cued a solo from the initially reluctant Coleman, who then rose to the occasion and the spirit.
Then, citing impresario Mona Golub’s birthday (mine, too) coming up Monday, they brought out a cake with a single candle. Surprised, bowing to SCR in awe, she blew out the candle and withdrew.
For all the zip of their playing in uptempo numbers and deep, confident pathos of the ballads, SCR includes fine songwriters, too. The writers of each usually sang them. Sharp’s ode to change in “Can’t Get Home” and Burdett’s “Pennies on the Tracks” could be country hits by any singer.
After the rousing “Take My Mind” earned an encore, Burdett drawled “All right, then!” in satisfaction as fans packed up against the stage and the band lit up “One Drop of Rain,” a lover’s call seeking reconciliation. Then “By This Time Tomorrow” rued some deep secret regret.
SCR clearly enjoyed themselves, and this proved infectious with a big, enthusiastic throng. Few danced up front, however; maybe intimidated by that beautifully coordinated couple who impressed in “Sweet Spot” – until the band’s late-in-the-show energy drew fans close.
Openers Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman showed archivists’ authenticity and precocious skill – Mona Golub joked that Brown was too young to drive. Brown played mostly banjo, old Appalachian style, while Coleman played fiddle. Both sang, mournfully in murder ballads, with charming spunk when they went uptempo. However, the music felt abstract and academic at times as they performed without much eye contact.
The Music Haven season continues Saturday with a showing of Questlove’s Oscar- and Grammy-winning documentary film “Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Couldn Not Be Televised).” A cultural fest beginning at 5 p.m. precedes the 7:30 p.m. film showing, with music by Albany-born guitarist Felicia Collins. A member of World’s Most Dangerous Band through the entire run of “Late Night with David Letterman,” Collins played Music Haven in 2015.
Michael Hochanadel has written on music since before Bruce Springsteen played the Union College Memorial Chapel (1974), publishing a weekly column and as many as 100 concert reviews annually in the Gazette (Schenectady/Capital Region) newspapers. He’s also written and photographed for Kite, Metroland, the New York Post and Vermont Vanguard newspapers; and for magazines including Capital Region, American Farmland, the Conservationist, Boston, and Wilderness Camping where he was photography editor and production manager. He has also worked on the dark side, in public relations and advertising as writer, photographer, researcher and producer of slide shows, video, radio and TV spots, print publications and reports. He was Music Haven Music Maven of the Year (2017) and first-ever winner (2019) of the Eddy Award as Music Journalist of the Year. He blogs at www.hokesjukebox.com.
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Woody Platt wasn’t even there….you might want to fact check before posting an article. That was Aaron Burdett on guitar. Aaron is also the sole writer of “Pennies on the Track.”
The guitarist is Aaron Burdett, not Woody Platt. Sadly, Woody’s last show with SCR was July 31st. As one of the founders of SCR he will be missed as he pursue other projects. However, it looks like Aaron fits right in.
(Editor’s Note). The previous comments are correct. Thank you for pointing out, we have corrected.
That first pic labeled Aaron Burdett isn’t Aaron Burdett. That’s Graham Sharp. And the pic of the openers is backwards too. Norah Brown is on the left, Stephanie Coleman is on the right.
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LIVE: REO Speedwagon, Styx & Loverboy @ SPAC, Saratoga…
LIVE: Jocelyn and Chris / Sly Fox & the Hustlers @…
LIVE: Schenectady Symphony Orchestra @ Music Haven,…