Colorado bluegrass musicians are a hearty folk.
They’re a voluminous bunch who try to live up to a rich history, steeped in the tradition of American music dating back to the 1940s, honoring its past while stretching the music itself.
Its contributors have been many. Bands such as Hot Rize were influential on bluegrass bands everywhere, and the Colorado jam-grass scene has made fans and spawned similar bands everywhere. Outside North Carolina, the state of Colorado could be the place to look for the best in traditional and not-so-traditional bluegrass music.
While it’s easy to label any band with a banjo a “bluegrass” band, the differences in style vary. Players in a band like Finnders and Youngberg, which is very much a traditional bluegrass band but will foray into country and folk, will tell you that first and foremost, on paper, they’re a traditional bluegrass band, although they’re not afraid to step outside of the walls of the genre if it means perfecting an original song.
Finnders and Youngberg will return to the Henry Strater Theatre tomorrow night. Band members include Mike Finders on guitar and vocals, Aaron Youngberg on banjo and pedal steel, Erin Youngberg on bass and vocals, Rich Zimmerman on mandolin and Ryan Drickey on fiddle. (There’s a story behind the extra “n” in the band’s name, but it’s been told many times.)
“Four of the five of us are all really schooled in classic bluegrass, meaning that when we learned to play bluegrass, we fell head over heels for it – the music of Jimmy Martin, Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe,” Finders said from his home in Longmont. “All of us have (more of) that at our core than other kinds of music. No newer bluegrass, jam grass or anything like that. If there is any kind of bluegrass that we play, I feel it’s more traditional-based than a lot of other bluegrass bands.
“That said, we’ve always tried to make our own music and don’t necessarily feel like we need to stay within the confines of a bluegrass sound,” he said. “Therefore if we get a crazy idea on how to arrange a song, and it’s away from what would be considered a bluegrass style, then we don’t ever have a second thought about it.”
Playing shows on the Western Slope in support of their new release, “I Don’t Want Love, You Won’t Give Until I Cry,” the band has found a sweet spot in dealing with the music business. Write good songs, remain diplomatic when it comes to band agreements about how songs will change to fit the likings of the whole band, and don’t be obnoxious in dealing with the promotion side of the business. Promote and market, but don’t cram it down the throats of listeners. It’s a formula that works whether you’re selling cars or selling your records.
“From day one, it’s always been about making as good of music as we can, and I write a lot of songs, and so which ones the band ends up doing, we have a lot of discussions about that,” Finders said. “For us, the art has always been primary. Hopefully we continue to have success with that formula. If it’s quality music, the business side isn’t so much work.”
Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Bryant’s Best
Saturday: Bluegrass, folk and country with Finnders and Youngberg, 7:30 p.m., $15, Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., 375-7160.
Saturday: Sky Pilot will play electro-fusion-jam, 8:30 p.m., Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440.
