Bluegrass used to be learned from family members and neighbors in the rural parts of America. Â In the last decade or so it”s become a conscious choice of genre by a variety of musicians who are trained and adept in many styles of music. Â Along the way they”ve fused all of those styles on top of traditional bluegrass instrumentation. Â I”m reminded so intently of that on the latest album from Colorado-based quintet, The Railsplitters.
You – The Railsplitters from Laputka Films on Vimeo.
The Faster It Goes features a number of songs that are generally what I”d call indie-grass. Â You tells the story of someone full of themselves and has a nice cello-like bass from Leslie Ziegler. Â Met That Day is a twist on the story of the soldier gone to war. Â Planted On the Ground is an intense, complex number that changes tempo with vocalist Lauren Stovall singing an almost frantic appeal to stay together, and then mandolinist/vocalist Peter Sharpe pulling the speed way, way down to tell her she needs to let him go.
Things get raised a notch on the record when the band leans more to the traditional bluegrass sound. Â Tilt-a-Whirl, the opening track on the disc, first exposes you to the lovely harmonies of the group. Â The Estuary is a very, very casino nice instrumental tune. Â Tell Me has a kind of 50″s waltz fee with oh-so-sweet vocals masking double entendres. Â My favorite song is the bonus track, Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes, recorded by such greats as Bill Monroe and Ray Price. Â Here, the band gives it a treatment that owes much to Hot Rize, another product of the Boulder area.
 With the holiday weekend upon us, and its unofficial opening of summer, you have to have some new summertime picking for your music player.  You”d be hard pressed to choose something better to go with your beer and BBQ than a few tracks from The Railsplitters.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.