Photo by Jason Beverly
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.
They are set to release 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 2012 release, Leave The Bottle. As for the future, stay tuned for a new upcoming studio album due next spring filled with more original Town Mountain songs.
Town Mountain was honored to learn that they made the 2nd ballot for the IBMA Awards in the categories of Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, and Emerging Artist of the Year. Lead singer Robert Greer also made the 2nd ballot for Male Vocalist of the Year and Bobby Britt is staking a well-deserved claim for Fiddle Player of the Year! After this 2nd voting period is over, the final ballot will be announced in mid-August, which the IBMA voters will send in by early September.
Riding on the momentum of Leave the Bottle, Town Mountain came away from the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) World of Bluegrass convention with a couple of IBMA Momentum Awards in hand for “Band of the Year” and lead singer Robert Greer for “Vocalist of the Year.”
“Phil Barker’s ‘Lawdog’ sounds like an unearthed classic, and the group’s tight harmonies alone make this record a treat for any bluegrass fan,” said Juli Thanki of Engine 145. David Morris of Bluegrass Today adds, “The songs [on Leave The Bottle] are new and mostly written by band members, but they sound like they could have come from the exciting early days of bluegrass…..The band sounds the part – tight picking and comfortable harmonies that aren’t overdubbed to soulless perfection. And the songs sound the part, too – murder ballads, endless highways, a nod to bluegrass’ Celtic roots and even a tip of the hat to a moonshiner.”
This summer they perform at Rockygrass and Targhee Bluegrass Festival,along with several shows in the Northwest before a plethora of dates in northeast, the southern appalachian region, and the midwest. In the fall the band will be appearing at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Watermelon Park Festival, IBMA’s World of Bluegrass Festival, 34th Annual Georgia MarbleFest and a host of other shows.
The band has been having an exciting year so far and have traveled far and wide including some notable appearances in 2014 at Wintergrass, Suwannee Springfest, Durango Bluegrass MeltDown, Music City Roots, MerleFest, Lake Eden Arts Festival, Graves Mountain Festival, Best of Bluegrass, California Bluegrass Association Father’s Day Festival, Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, The Grey Fox Music Festival as well as a recent show at City Winery in Chicago supporting Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys.
Town Mountain is in it for the long haul… check out out where they’ll be travelin’ to this year and keep an eye on TownMountain.net for further dates and updates from the road at facebook.com/TownMountain and twitter.com/TownMountain.
Town Mountain on Tour 2014:
7/24 Thu – Avogadro’s Number – Rockygrass Kickoff Party – Ft. Collins, CO
7/25 Fri – The Walnut Room – Denver, CO *w/ Whetherman
7/26 Sat – 42nd RockyGrass Festival – Lyons, CO
8/01 Fri – Pickin’ In Parsons Bluegrass Festival – Parsons, WV
8/02 Sat – Mt Vernon Nights- Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton – Lorton, VA
8/08 Fri – The 27th Annual Targhee Bluegrass Festival – Alta, WY
8/09-10 Sat-Sun – Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival – Spokane, WA
8/12 Tue – Republic Brewing Company – Republic, WA
8/13 Wed – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
8/15 Fri – The Nelson Odeon – Cazenovia, NY
8/16 Sat – Riverlink Park Summer Concert Series 2014- Amsterdam, NY
8/17 Sun – Club Passim – Cambridge, MA
8/21 Thu – Cosmic Charlie’s – Lexington, KY
8/22 Fri – Isis Music Hall – Asheville, NC
8/29 Fri – Zanzabar – Louisville, KY
8/30 Sat – Red, White and Bluegrass At Holiday World – Santa Claus, IN
9/04 Thu – 8 x 10 – Baltimore, MD
9/05 Fri – Historic Blairstown Theater – Blairstown, NJ
9/12-13 Fri-Sat – Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival – Flagstaff, AZ
9/20 Sat – Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion Bristol, TN
9/26 Fri – Watermelon Park Festival- Berryville, VA
9/27 Sat – Music Box Supper Club – Cleveland, OH
9/28 Sun – Rinky Dinks Roadhouse – Amity, PA
10/03 Fri – IBMA’s Wide Open Bluegrass – Raleigh, NC
10/04 Sat – 34th Annual Georgia MarbleFest – Marble, CO
10/15 Wed – Station Inn- Nashville, TN
10/16 Thu – The Southgate House Revival – Revival Room – Newport KY
10/17 Fri – Stoney Point Jamboree – Paris, KY
10/18 Sat – Historic Cowee School Concert Series – Franklin NC
10/23 Thu – Ashland Coffee and Tea – Ashland, VA
10/24 Fri – Gypsy Sally’s – Washington DC
11/6-7 Thu-Fri – Riverhawk Music Festival – Brooksville, FL
11/14 Fri – Randy Wood Guitars – Bloomingdale, GA
