VIDEO: Watch The Hillbenders, up close and personal
I first heard The Hillbenders at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival a couple of summers ago. The 5-piece band from Springfield, Missouri, was practicing in the woods. Reflected off Catskill Creek, their sound was a refreshing blend of original music and progressive bluegrass. They unabashedly took pop classics and made them their own. I caught them at a showcase in a suite at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, during the annual IBMA conference.
These single-mic champs went five-mics wide on the main stage. But here’s why they need to stick to the theatrical one-mic style of playing — even though, in the video below, there was no room for a mic. Enjoy this half-hour show:
The Hillbenders perform on the main stage at IBMA 2011. From left, Chad Graves, Mark Cassidy, Nolan Lawrence, Gary Rea, Jimmy Rea. Photo by Stephen Ide
