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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
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Page 1 of 5 On the surface, Wildwood Holler! appears to be yet another bluegrass band mixing just enough of old and new styles to lure traditionalists and “modern hippies” alike.
And while Wildwood banjo player Josh Beard claims the band is not really a bluegrass band, he can’t deny that the acoustic instrumentation and musical roots readily place Wildwood Holler! into that realm.
 “Bluegrass is different things to different people. ... There are a lot of idiomatic things within what part each instrument fills that makes the music bluegrass. There are certain rules. We’re trying to make our own rules basically rather than serve a bluegrass tradition,” said Beard of Fort Collins. “What makes us different is that we are writing our own songs and not following tradition. People who don’t know a lot about bluegrass look up on stage see a mandolin and banjo and think it is a bluegrass band.”
 The Wildwood sound, which also features Ryan Staychock on upright bass and Michael Kirkpatrick on mandolin, looks toward poets like William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe for lyrical inspiration, while musically straying from the traditional bluegrass patterns, blending in other subtle elements like rock, folk and jazz. Beard mentions Yonder Mountain String Band and Leftover Salmon, two popular bands that pioneered jamgrass—the bluegrass-based rock hybrid—but doesn’t want Wildwood to be placed in that category either, despite their wayward use of acoustic instruments.
“We’re really trying to get away from the jamgrass kind of way of people looking at us,” Beard added. “In an esoteric way, we are just doing our own thing; our subject matter is different. It’s not about drinking whisky or riding hobo trains. To go out and sing about whisky, it’s fun, we all like whisky, but we feel we have more important things to say. You’ll find the whisky on your own. Music is a more spiritual thing for us.”
But in this day of musical cross-pollination, it is hard to place an easy tag on most bands (though a label—for right or wrong—seems to be necessary for every musical act), and though the average listener may find Wildwood’s album, “Exclamation,” solidly bluegrass, despite the variety of styles, Beard said he is fine with that too.
“If they’re calling it bluegrass, then that’s fine. (Fans) might just have different ideas of what bluegrass is,” he said. “We associate ourselves with the bluegrass people, but really I think they are music lovers. We’re music lovers, … we just look at (music) a little differently.”
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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