Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!
(Signature Sounds)
Sure, it’s a generalization, but many are the bluegrass bands that sound a whole lot like all the other bluegrass bands. Standing out in such a well-defined and longstanding genre is no easy task. Put with that challenge that Barnstar! is based in the decidedly non-Southern town of Boston, and it’s a shocker just how good a bluegrass band this is, at least ’til you read the liner notes.
Barnstar! is led by Zackariah Hickman, who sports an imposing moustache as well as a practiced musical hand — he’s currently musical director for Ray LaMontagne. The rest of the group consists of experienced Boston musicians, from singer/songwriter Mark Erelli to longtime bluegrass player Taylor Amerding. They combine forces to create a slick, well-delivered, and contemporary version of bluegrass. In part they accomplish that through wide-ranging song choices. The CD includes some originals, but is heavy on covers from, among others, Patty Griffin, Rod Stewart, and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens).
To those tunes they bring a confident, guitar-fueled sense of rhythm and an easy way with harmony vocals. There’s plenty of instrumental prowess on display, but the emphasis here is not on flashy soloing. Instead, the band seems dedicated to crafting consistent textures to back up the vocals.
The album does have its low points, times when the easy manner gives way to a momentary torpor, but there’s only one major sin in evidence. Bluegrass is, of course, true back-porch music. It’s the music of rural Southerners, often played with hardscrabble technique in less-than-formal settings. The gentlemen of Barnstar! weigh in with such polish it can border on sterility. It’s probably the sterility of the studio clashing with music that’s most at home on a live stage, and it’s easily solved by attending a show instead of just listening to studio product. You’ll have a chance to do that Feb. 7 at the Academy of Music in Northampton, when the band is joined by Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands to celebrate the release of Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!
