See photos from the live event below.
I sat down with Drury Anderson, lead singer and mandolinist of Mountain Grass Unit, to discuss the band and its aspirations, and Bluegrass music as a whole.
The band was formed in 2016 by three childhood friends, Anderson, guitarist Luke Black, and bassist Sam Wilson. They recently added a seasoned fiddle player, Josiah Nelson, who also teaches the fiddle and mandolin at East Tennessee State University.
Education runs through the group, but it is far from defining the band entirely. Anderson and Black are both recent graduates of Berklee College of Music, while Wilson finished at the University of Alabama. Anderson pointed out that music degrees can’t teach “feel” which he thinks is the driving force of being a musician.
“Berklee is absolutely great at giving you the tools and the toolbox that you need,” he says. “But it’s not like a secret ticket. You don’t need to have it to have feel, and in the end, music is about the feel.”
That feel-based approach is what separates Mountain Grass Unit from the rising pack of jam bands. Their sets fuse traditional bluegrass with nods to jazz, blues, and sometimes metal. They pay their respects to the genre but are not afraid to push boundaries.
“One common assumption is thar all bluegrass is hard-slammin’, moonshine-drinkin’ hillbilly music,” Anderson says with a laugh. “We love that sort of stuff, but we also bring in other influences.”
They are part of the new style of bluegrass picking, stemming from late legends like Tony Rice, who famously incorporated jazz phrasing into bluegrass flatpicking guitar. That open-minded approach is reflected in MGU’s performances, where traditional bluegrass numbers can turn into jams from the likes of the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, and Billy Strings, while meshing in familiar covers to keep the crowd engaged.
Their audience resembles one you would see at a Billy Strings or Dead and Company show; college students mixed in with middle-aged fans and families. It’s the kind of scene where a band like Mountain Grass Unit fits right in.
As for what is next for Mountain Grass Unit, the band is still feeling things out. Right now, they are building a following, with a rigorous touring schedule this summer, going all around the United States. “We really don’t know where we’ll be in 10 or 15 years,” Anderson says. “But ideally, fewer shows, bigger venues, and hopefully working with a label. We’d love to get an album out soon”.
Mountain Grass Unit may still be young, but they play with instincts beyond their years. As the jam band scene continues to grow, they are proving that bluegrass not only belongs in the mix, but it can also thrive there.
