Vancouver based Canadian Bluegrass group The High Bar Gang will release their second album, Someday The Heart Will Trouble The Mind, via True North Records.
The new album from The High Bar Gang features 13 tracks, using their unique spin on old–time bluegrass songs. The album’s repertoire was researched from rare bluegrass recordings by the Stanley Brothers, JD Crowe, Flatt and Scruggs, Hazel Dickens with Alice Gerrard and Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys. Several suggestions were made to the band from friends Ry Cooder and Elvis Costello. Unlike their debut album which drew from gospel repertoire, “Someday The Heart Will Trouble The Mind” explores the “cheating and hurting” side of bluegrass.
The album was recorded at Watershed Productions in Vancouver and engineered by Dave Meszaros. The band continues their tradition of recording live in the studio, with Meszaros managing to convince band leader Colin Nairne to finally make a bluegrass record in stereo. Using various microphone techniques including a ‘Decca Tree’, the album has a very natural live feel.
From opening for Canadian music icons Blue Rodeo at Vancouver’s Malkin Bowl, to the prestigious Cedar Creek Winery Concert series and the Panam Games in Toronto, the band has built a solid reputation for their wonderfully upbeat brand of old-time bluegrass and stories. The performances at the Brackendale Art Gallery and Victoria’s famous Butchart Gardens lead to bigger venues including Vancouver’s International Jazz Festival and San Francisco’s legendary Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.
Nominated for a JUNO award in 2014, and winning “Vocal Group of the Year,” at the 2014 Canadian Folk Music Awards, The High Bar Gang is poised to continue it’s much deserved success with “Someday The Heart Will Trouble The Mind”
The High Bar Gang features: Dave Barber on banjo, mandolin and guitar, Kirby Barber on guitar and bass, Rob Becker on bass, Barney Bentall on guitar, Wendy Bird on guitar, Colin Nairne on guitar, mandolin, and Shari Ulrich on fiddle and mandolin.
Vocal harmony is key to this band’s sound. The blend of Shari Ulrich, Wendy Bird and Kirby Barber along with guitarist Barney Bentall and banjo player Dave Barber delivers a beautifully rich, classic-bluegrass vocal sound that most bands would strive for.
The High Bar Gang will announce tour and festival dates for summer and fall 2016 soon.
Their new album is available now from iTunes.
Track Listing:
1. Silver Dagger 2. Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky 3. Branded Wherever I go 4. Long Lonesome Highway Blues 5. Twenty Twenty Vision |
6. Jailer Jailer 7. One I Love is Gone 8. How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart 9. Red Wicked Wine 10. Cold Rain and Snow |
9. Red Wicked Wine 11. She’s More to be Pitied 12. Rock Salt and Nails 13. I Still Miss Someone |
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