|
Cadillac Sky
Headlines New Bluegrass Festival at NACC
Northeast
Alabama Community College will host its first Music on the
Mountain Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, August 9 from 1 pm
to 10 pm in the Tom Bevill Lyceum on campus. Bands will include
Long Time Coming, Flint River Boys, Bluegrass Blvd., New Home,
and the headline band, Cadillac Sky.
Cadillac
Sky’s propulsive brand of acoustic music is the perfect marriage
of tradition and innovation. This original approach comes from
a deep-seated respect for tradition wrapped around an unbridled
musical curiosity. The Cadillac Sky sound is the fruition of
bandleader Bryan Simpson’s groundbreaking vision to create an
acoustic roots band built for the 21st Century. The
band first came together in 2002 in Texas when Simpson
(mandolin, vocals) teamed up with young banjo whiz Matt Menefee.
The timing was perfect because Simpson was beginning to have
success as a mainstream country songwriter but was burdened by a
deep well of more personal material that he felt deserved a
forum but had no vehicle for. Menefee’s colorful and rhythmic
banjo playing combined with a similar musical vision was the
launching pad that Simpson had hoped for but not expected to
find. They soon added a veteran influence in Mike Jump who had
found success playing with regional favorites Southern Union and
the Andy Owens Project. Shortly after, on the word of Menefee,
they added the virtuoistic, Ross Holmes (fiddle, vocals), and,
more recently, the talents of Houston native, Andy “Panda”
Moritz (bass, vocals).
When the
band began rehearsing, they quickly realized the diverse but
complimentary musical backgrounds they could pull from. They
blended the traditional sounds of Bill Monroe and the colorful
stylings of The Beatles with free form jazz to develop their
signature sound. “Everybody in this band comes from such
different backgrounds musically, that we all bring our own
element to the group,” explains Holmes about the band’s original
sound. “You can hear a lot of the classical and jazz influences
that I have and Bryan’s more old-timey bluegrass style. Mike
grew up with 70s rock and a lot of the best banjo players on the
planet and everything he does is just amazing.”
Simpson
believes building the band’s sound on the traditions of
bluegrass has given Cadillac Sky a solid foundation—one strong
enough to support their unique musical perspective. “We
definitely have progressive leanings, but we are trying to find
our own voice and not be flimsy retreads of New Grass Revival or
Nickel Creek; even though we LOVE that stuff. What I like about
acoustic music is that there is such an honest energy to it. We
try to keep that and combine it with the innovation of rock
music. Then we take some of the country music sensibilities in
the lyric and melody and put all that together. Probably not
consciously, but it seems to sort of work out that way.”
The
members of Cadillac Sky are believers not only in their faith,
but in the power of great music. They know music makes a
difference. That’s why they worked so hard to craft the
heart-and-soul-stirring songs that make up Blind Man Walking.
It speaks volumes about the arrival of a brand new voice
deserving to be heard.
When the
first strains of Cadillac Sky’s “Born Lonesome” come pulsing out
of the speakers, it’s immediately apparent that there’s a
different kind of roots band on the scene--one wrapped in
tradition but not bound by it. That song, which opens their
Skaggs Family Records debut, Blind Man Walking, has a
high, lonesome sound. And when they follow that up with “You
Again,” a song in which they display the ferocious intensity of
the great rock and roll bands, it’s obvious Cadillac Sky is a
band poised for greatness. There is an understated spirituality
that infuses everything that the band does. It’s one of the
things that drew Ricky Skaggs to Cadillac Sky’s music and
ultimately resulted in signing them to Skaggs Family Records.
“When I
heard Cadillac Sky for the first time, I heard some of the
freshest new music I had heard in a long time,” said Ricky
Skaggs. “I wanted them for Skaggs Family Records. Any time you
sign a brand new group, you’re taking a chance, but with a CD
like this, I was willing to go for it. They’re great!”
For more
information on the band, go to
www.cadillacsky.net.
Additional
bands performing at the Festival include Long Time Coming, Flint
River Boys, Bluegrass Blvd., and New Home. More information on
these bands is upcoming.
Don’t miss
this new Bluegrass Festival! Get your tickets today. Tickets are
available now at the College, $15 in advance and $20 the day of
the festival. Outside activities will feature local artists,
food vendors, and inflatables for the little ones.
For
more information, see
Music on the
Mountain Bluegrass Festival; or contact Susan Barron, Director of
Events Planning,
barrons@nacc.edu or phone ext. 248. Local
artists or food vendors wanting to participate should contact
Barron.
Pictured below are members
of Cadillac Sky, (L-R) Matt Menefee (banjo), Ross Holmes
(vocals, fiddle), Bryan Simpson (vocals, mandolin), Mike Jump
(vocals, guitar), and Andy Moritz (vocals, bass).
 |
