Town Mountain Boys

The Portfolio Weekley, Norfolk, Virginia
Town Mountain Comes to Town
By Jim Newsom
Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2007

When David Grisman brought his Quintet to the Granby Theater last November, folks who came to hear Grisman’s "dawg music" blend of bluegrass and jazz were pleasantly surprised by the energy, enthusiasm and spirited good timeliness of the opening act, Town Mountain, from Asheville, N. C.

Greer, who brings his band to his dad’s school for a concert Friday night, then travels over the Bay Bridge-Tunnel for a Sunday afternoon show at the Palace Theatre in Cape Charles, grew up with an eclectic soundtrack at home.
"My parents liked all sorts of music," he said. "They’re big classical music fans. But Dad, in particular, loves country music. When I was a little boy, they’d have parties at the college he was working at, and a lot of times there’d be a bluegrass band playing. Dad had a lot of influence on that I’m sure. I wasn’t submersed in it by any means, but I’ve been around it.
"Pretty much everybody in our band is that way—they didn’t grow up around bluegrass and most of us didn’t grow up playing music. Our bass player, Barrett Smith, is the guy who’s been playing the longest. He’s actually a lifelong guitar player. He was a classical guitar major at UNC—Chapel Hill. We’re completely underutilizing the guy!"

One of the band’s most immediately obvious trademarks is their one-microphone style of singing and playing. It’s like watching the old Martha White Flour Hour, with the five Town Mountaineers leaning in to sing those sweet bluegrass harmonies, then backing away to let each instrumental soloist step forward.
"Running that one mike is easier to get a better mix," Greer explained. "It’s less hassle. You don’t have to use monitors, so you don’t have as much hardware to carry around. You’re right there in each other’s faces when you’re singing, so you can hear each other and hear exactly what’s going on.
"And it’s the old school way of doing it. That’s something that’s real appealing to all of us, with the swooping in and weaving in and out of each other. It’s kind of a choreography going on. You know, it’s boring being glued to one microphone all night long, not being able to move around. So this frees that up."
Greer and his band mates are constantly expanding their repertoire.
"All of the songs on our CD except one were written by somebody in the band. There was a period a couple of years ago when I had just broken up with a girl and I went on a tear, four songs in 24 hours. They would just be poems, basically, and I’d give them to Jesse our banjo player. And sometimes he would come up with chord progressions that I liked, and then I would do the rest. It really helped working with somebody else. And we’ve done a little of that since."
They’re planning to record the two gigs this weekend for a possible live album. And they continue to grow their audience through the Internet and live concert appearances.
"Playing and performance is the name of the game. We really are trying to stay away from the stereotypical bluegrass path. That means staying away from a lot of those regional bluegrass festivals. We’re interested in playing festivals that have a more eclectic collection of music—we want to be the only bluegrass band surrounded by a bunch of rock’n’roll and jam bands. We’re talking with the Northwest String Summit people about going out to Oregon and playing this summer.
"We’re still trying to figure it out and working real hard. If you know any booking agency that wants a bluegrass band to take on, tell ‘em about us!"

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The Free Times,
Columbia South Carolina

Town Mountain @ El Burrito
Saturday, October 22
Elizabeth Renedo

Each July, the country’s best and brightest traditional musicians get together in Lyons, Colorado for the Rockygrass Bluegrass Festival where they develop their skills and compete for some of the most prestigious titles in bluegrass music. In recent years, the Rockygrass band competition has developed a reputation for being a springboard, propelling the most deserving and talented young bands (Yonder Mountain String Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, among others) into the national limelight. 2005 winners, Town Mountain, are no exception to this rule. They will be bringing their blistering hot brand of bluegrass and country music to Columbia Saturday night, performing out back at El Burrito.

Based in Asheville, NC, Town Mountain produces some of the finest “original bluegrass and roots country” being made today. The lineup consists of musicians who have racked up numerous individual honors in addition to those they have earned together. Robert Greer, the splendidly booming voice of Town Mountain, was named Western North Carolina vocalist of the year in 2003. Much decorated fiddle player, Josh Goforth was even starred as Fiddlin’ Will in the 2000 Sundance Festival-featured movie “Songcatcher.” Rounding out the band are Jed Willis on mandolin, Jesse Langlais on banjo and Columbia native Barrett Smith on bass.

Asheville bluegrass band wins
prestigious competition

Asheville-based bluegrass band Town Mountain took home top prize last weekend in the band competition at the 33rd annual RockyGrass Festival in Lyons, Colorado. The contest pitted twelve bands from across the United States, vying for a first prize of cash, instrument supplies, and an invitation to perform a full set at next year’s RockyGrass.

Town Mountain members describe the band as a “straight ahead” traditional bluegrass band, with tunes ranging from classic George Jones ballads to standard and original bluegrass numbers. The five members of Town Mountain are Robert Greer, guitar and lead vocals; Jed Willis, mandolin; John Garris, fiddle and vocals; Jesse Langlais, banjo and vocals; and Barrett Smith, stand-up bass and vocals.

RockyGrass is one of the elite traditional bluegrass festivals in the world. This year’s RockyGrass was held July 29-31, 2005, along the banks of the St. Vrian River in Lyons, Colorado. Performers included Doc Watson, the Del McCoury band, Ricky Skaggs, Allison Krause and Union Station, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice. Previous winners of the RockyGrass band competition include the Steep Canyon Rangers, Yonder Mountain String Band and Hit and Run Bluegrass.

Michael Thornhill
Director of Communications
Mars Hill College
office: 828/689-1298
cell: 828/778-1298
email: mthornhill@mhc.edu

IBMA Showcases
Nashville, Tennessee - 2005

This year at the International Bluegrass Music Association, Town Mountain will be show cased in two of bluegrass music’s’ circle of friends, the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society and Magnolia State Bluegrass Association. Town Mountain is very excited to be there this year; this is their first appearance at IBMA as a band. Check our schedule page to find out times.

Asheville bluegrass band wins
prestigious competition

Michael Thornhill
Director of Communications
Mars Hill College
office: 828/689-1298
cell: 828/778-1298
email: mthornhill@mhc.edu