Biography

Why You Should Care: A musical cauldron of distinctively American contributions largely rooted in the rural south, bluegrass has taken on a new identity in recent years, as new times and new musicians have naturally incorporated the sounds around them in every part of the country — and even the world. Bluegrass at the Crossroads is a series of unique encounters between musicians from every corner — geographical, generational, stylistic and more — of the music and the communities it has inspired, inviting them to collaborate not only through fresh takes on bluegrass classics, but especially with new songs that reflect and engage with the contemporary world. This newest release features Chris Davis (The Grascals), Gina Furtado (banjo), Andy Leftwich (fiddle), Cody Kilby (Travelin’ McCourys) and bassist/vocalist Sav Sankaran (Unspoken Tradition), with series producer Jon Weisberger contributing an additional harmony vocal.

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The latest single from Mountain Home Music Company’s unique collaborative project, Bluegrass At The Crossroads, features a new grouping of musicians spanning the range from traditional-flavored bluegrass to today’s jamgrass. For their first outing in the series, Chris Davis (The Grascals) takes the vocal lead on “Not That Far Along,” a melancholy confession of heartache that gets sympathetic backing from fellow Mountain Home artists Gina Furtado (banjo) and Andy Leftwich (fiddle), Travelin’ McCourys guitarist Cody Kilby and bassist/vocalist Sav Sankaran (of Mountain Home’s Unspoken Tradition), with series producer Jon Weisberger contributing an additional harmony vocal.

With Furtado’s mellow, old-time-flavored banjo introduction, “Not That Far Along” quickly establishes an easy, flowing groove that almost belies the song’s sad confession. Punctuated by nuanced, soulful solos from Kilby, Leftwich, and Davis himself on mandolin, the depiction of a narrator whose clear-eyed understanding of his responsibility for a relationship’s failure doesn’t free him from pain hits the emotional mark, culminating in the chorus’s devastating close:

I thought that I was through with hurting, once again you proved me wrong
I thought that I’d be strong by now, but I’m just not that far along

“I love a good heart break song — a tale of romance gone wrong and love that’s been deceived,” Davis says. “When paired with a beautiful melody, you come up with ‘Not That Far Along,’ written by two of my favorite writers, Craig Market and Jon Weisberger.”

“It’s such a thrill to be able to bring together these outstanding musicians, most of whom had never played with one another before in any setting,” notes Weisberger. “I think that the combination of these various backgrounds — and the mutual enjoyment everyone found in one another’s contributions — made for some great, exciting music, and really shows how bluegrass continues to be one of the best musical meeting grounds to be found just about anywhere.”

About Bluegrass at the Crossroads
A musical cauldron of distinctively American contributions largely rooted in the rural south, bluegrass has taken on a new identity in recent years, as new times and new musicians have naturally incorporated the sounds around them in every part of the country — and even the world. At the same time, an indispensable musical core has persevered, finding ever-changing ways to create performances that cause everyone familiar with the genre to say, “now, that’s bluegrass.”

Over the years, Mountain Home Music Company and its sibling imprint, Organic Records, have become home to a family of artists who are collectively creating music that forms part of that core, but also exemplifies the adventurous, wide-ranging side of the genre. Bluegrass at the Crossroads is a series of unique encounters between members of that family from every corner — geographical, generational, stylistic and more — of the music and the communities it has inspired, inviting them to collaborate not only through fresh takes on bluegrass classics, but especially with new songs that reflect and engage with the contemporary world.