The HillBenders

A few years ago, I was privy to the world premiere of The HillBenders' ‘bluegrass opry’ take on The Who's rock opera Tommy in, of all places, a hotel room in Kansas City, Missouri. It takes a lot to top an event like that, and there's nothing quite so outlandish here, even if the band have recently been touring a set of bluegrass versions of Tom Petty tunes (which I would love to hear). There is, however, a glistening bluegrass remodelling of MGMT's electro-pop hit ‘Kids’, plus a posthumous ‘co-write’ with the late, great John Hartford from guitarist Jim Rea, who adds music to lyrics found in Hartford's book Word Movies for ‘I've Got a Mind to Move On’. There are more originals penned by Rea, as well as one apiece from band mates Gary Rea (bass), Chad Graves (dobro), Mark Cassidy (banjo) and Nolan Lawrence (mandolin). There's an abundance of fabulous energy, some razor-sharp harmonies and a significant helping of humour to be found in this hugely entertaining, live-in-the-studio opus from a thrillingly open-minded band who are by no means a novelty act, but truly at the cutting edge of the nu-grass movement.