This Wednesday we were delighted to attend the Cornmeal and Greensky Bluegrass show at the Tralf. There was no better way to spend a frigid Wednesday evening than with quality bluegrass, a moderate amount of whiskey, and and a crowd that was in the mood to cut loose. The first band on the ticket, Greensky Bluegrass, kicked off the evening with some fun, traditional, crunchy tunes to warm the crowd up, helping us unfreeze our joints. They played a set of predominately their own songs, with a pleasing cover of the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" thrown in. This tour marks Greensky Bluegrass's first venture into the Northeast and they are definitely a group that fans of natural sounding bluegrass should pay attention to.
Once Cornmeal hit the stage, all bets were off. Simply put, that band is a raucous great time. Every member is a master of their instrument and they played ferociously and passionately for the whole set. Pure bluegrass roots absolutely permeated their sound, but they definitely took their songs to sonic places that would not necessarily be considered traditional. Their jams were pretty far out, touching on everything from the cajun to the middle eastern as music cascaded throughout the venue for nearly two solid hours. As part of the encore, Greensky Bluegrass joined Cornmeal on stage to bring it home with Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band." So fun.
Overall, Cornmeal provided one of the better shows in recent months. They are captivating as musicians and totally know how to command the stage. On top of that however, they play bluegrass music. And the thing about bluegrass music is that no matter what, it always sounds like sunny skies and bare feet on warm grass. So to be able to take a night out, and conjure up those sensations which are so easily forgotten at a time such as this, was a real treat.
Greensky Bluegrass:
Cornmeal:
Together:
Photographs courtesy of Anna Miller
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