from the CD That High Lonesome Sound, Acoustic Discs, released: 1996, recorded: 1973
Jerry Garcia was always burning the joint at both ends, so to speak, filling every available moment that wasn’t spent playing in the Dead (or nodding out…) with a swollen heap of side projects and guest appearances; although Old & in the Way only played together for a couple of months, their subtle update on the traditional bluegrass template later became a clarion call to the new-school bluegrass movement, not to mention facilitating one of Garcia’s longest standing friendships outside of the Dead in mandolin prodigy David Grisman. Although some of the songs they covered were modern hits (for example, their take on the New Riders’ “Lonsome L.A. Cowboy” is priceless), this was no crossover act, and all the support players here came from traditional bluegrass backgrounds; that facts lent them the credibility needed to cover a Monroe classic like this without more than a mere hint of irony. This music was Garcia’s first love and obsession, long before the days of acid tests & psychedelic ballrooms, set adrift in the memories of jug bands and ragtime.
from the CD Euphoria, Hollywood Records, 1997
I think there’s something in the water supply…well, that’s what I tell people who ask me why Colorado has continued to be ground zero for the bluegrass revival that’s been kicking since the early ‘90s, for lack of a better reason I suppose. If one wanted to, you could probably see live bluegrass on every night of the week within a 20 mile radius of the semi-official epicenter of the scene: Boulder. Salmon built their early support base with constant gigging in and around the front range here, and they stand proudly atop the pile of area crews right next to Yonder; to be sure, some older heads around here would gasp at that assessment, but I’m merely comparing the level of notoriety those two bands achieved (i.e. national vs. local), not their sound. Where Yonder has stuck primarily with a semi-traditional bluegrass template, Salmon was always quick to highlight their eclectic range by labeling their musical stew as “polyethnic Cajun slamgrass”, whatever that means. Going to see bluegrass live is a great time though, I can’t lie---you almost feel like the music carries you back in time, to the pioneer days of mining camps and shady ladies which used to populate the surrounding hills.
from the CD Mountain Tracks Vol. 2, SCI Fidelity Records, 2001
Bluegrass was one of the last genres of music to make an impact in my life, not for lack of exposure, but mainly due to the residual effects of a childhood spent hating any form of country music out there; I grew up and got over it, and thankfully so, because new school acts like Yonder make bluegrass exceedingly fun and awfully hard to resist. The town in Colorado where these guys came together (a heady hamlet called Nederland, no lie) is a special and unique place: no corporate stores, surrounded by yurts and communes, backpackers, hitchhikers, pot growers, people living off the grid---frankly, what better environment to soak up the old time vibe that bluegrass music brings? They work the fuck out of this traditional, prohibition-era tune, much to the delight of a local & vocal Colorado crowd; we saw them open for Willie Nelson at Red Rocks a few years ago, amazing show!
from the CD That High Lonesome Sound, Acoustic Discs, released: 1996, recorded: 1973
