Raw and soulful, with plenty of swagger, Town Mountain, is on tour with their 5th studio album, Southern Crescent, which released to much acclaim on April 1, 2016 on LoHi Records. The band debuted on the Grand Ole Opry stage in June. Just two weeks later they made their debut appearance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, as part of a three day run of shows supporting Greensky Bluegrass. The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart and stayed for ten weeks on the Americana Music Association's radio chart’s top 40.
Town Mountain, based in Asheville, NC, continues their album relase tour mid-July with shows in Atlanta, Mississippi, and Arkansas before heading up to the northwest states in early August. They return to the south for a number of shows this summer and fall including opening for Yonder Mountain String Band at the Party in the Holler in New River Gorge, then traveling into Virginia and the Carolinas. The season includes notable appearances at Watermelon Park Fest, World of Bluegrass, and Suwannee Roots Revival.
No Depression’s Amos Perrine names Town Mountain as, “the most exciting bluegrass band to come along in a long time." This is echoed by Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst sentiments, “I’d put Town Mountain on my list of Five Bluegrass Bands You Must Know in 2016, because while the genre has forked and morphed in wonderful ways, these guys from Asheville have more Flatt & Scruggs and more Jimmy Martin in their sound than any young band I can think of. And when they do nod to other influences, they tend to be from parallels to the early bluegrass era, like Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins for example.”
Town Mountain includes Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, Jack Devereux on fiddle, and Adam Chaffins on bass. Please note Bobby Britt (fiddle) and Nick DiSebastian (bass) perform on Southern Crescent.
Produced and engineered by GRAMMY winner Dirk Powell, Southern Crescent was recorded in Powell’s studio The Cypress House in south-central Louisiana town of Breaux Bridge. It was mixed by Mixed by Scott Vestal at Digital Underground in Greenbrier, TN. The album was recorded in a decidedly old-school way, live, with minimal fixes and overdubs, with all the musicians in the same room and no noise-reducing baffling between them. Each of Town Mountain's members contributed songs to Southern Crescent, with Barker, Langlais, and Greer the chief writers in the band.
Raleigh News & Observer calls Southern Crescent “hard-charging, grits-and-gravy authentic, the kind of emotions on the strings of Bill Monroe and Flatts and Scruggs pioneered more than 60 years ago… Town Mountain honors the Ancients while bringing a collective and generational identity to their art.”
“Town Mountain holds its own against all comers when it comes to producing a powerhouse bluegrass drive grown from deep roots.” Bluegrass Unlimited goes on to write, “Much like Monroe’s original Blue Grass Boys show, the CD opens with a lickety-split fiddle number, ‘St. Augustine,’ then the band shifts gears and rolls into an up-tempo, bouncy ‘Ain’t Gonna Worry’ written and sung by the band’s mandolinist, Phil Barker.”
Town Mountain has been making it rounds at notable festivals this season having already appeared at ROMP and Festival of the Bluegrass in Kentucky, Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, Denver Beer Co.’s Sundrenched Music Festival, Rooster Walk in Virginia, Nelsonville Music Festival in Ohio, among others. Walter Tunis with Lexington Herald Ledger notes, “The ascension of Town Mountain as one of the festival’s [Festival of Bluegrass 2016] premiere acts was demonstrated in a set that emphasized the North Carolina’s quintet’s obvious strengths – specifically, a rugged ensemble charge (showcased at once during the show opening "Tick on a Dog"), ample stylistic dexterity (the honky tonk drive of "Whiskey With Tears") and individual firepower (Greer’s joyous vocals, Phil Barker’s quick-witted mandolin picking).”
“The past echoes through Town Mountain, clear through to the future,” says Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone. “To bluegrass fans I'd say the genre is in good hands. But you will dig the rough edges too! They're a shot of 100 proof bluegrass with a honky-tonk chaser!" Carbone is part of the partnership of the new LoHi Records, of which Southern Crescent is the first album in their catalog. Based in Greensboro, NC, the label also includes Hard Working Americans’ Todd Snider (singer/songwriter and record producer ) and Chad Staehly (keyboardist who is also with Gold Mountain Entertainment in Nashville), as well as entrepreneur and marketing veteran Jim Brooks.
Town Mountain ‘Southern Crescent’ Tour 2016:
7/20 Wed - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA (w/ Sam Lewis)
7/21 Thu - Down On Main Concert Series - Tupelo MS
7/22 Fri - Proud Larry's - Oxford, MS
7/23 Sat - Homegrown Music Festival - Ozark, AR
8/3 Wed - Applegate Lodge - Jacksonville, OR
8/4 Thu - The Old Stone - Bend, OR
8/5 Fri - Pickathon - Happy Valley, OR
8/6 Sat - Double Mountain Brewery - Hood River, OR
8/7 Sun - Nectar’s - Seattle, WA
8/12 Fri - The Twisted Pear - Forest City, NC
8/19 Fri - Capital Ale House - Richmond, VA
8/20 Sat - The Barns of Rose Hill - Berryville, VA
8/21 Sun - Sanctuary Brewing Co - Hendersonville, NC
8/25 Thu - Gottrocks - Greenville, SC
8/27 Sat - The Pour House - Charleston, SC
8/26 Fri - Ziggy’s by the Sea - Wilmington, NC
9/3 Sat - Party in the Holler @ ACE Adventure Resort - New River Gorge (supporting Yonder Mountain String Band)
9/9 Fri - Blue Bear Music Fest - Boone, NC
9/10 Sat - Beericana - Holly Springs, NC
9/22 Thu - Botanic Garden - Kernersville, NC
9/24 Sat - Watermelon Park Fest - Berryville, VA
9/30 Fri - World of Bluegrass - IBMA - Raleigh, NC
10/13-14 Thu-Fri -Suwannee Roots Revival - Live Oak, FL
