CLEVELAND, Ohio – It’s good to be king and right now, bluegrass is a royal family.
With the meteoric rise of Billy Strings and the “overnight” success of Cris Jacobs, it seems that contemporary bluegrass music is on the rise with mainstream audiences once more.
While that Appalachian style has never been on the outs (see Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck and so on backwards for decades) this latest surge has been especially meaningful for journeymen acts like Greensky Bluegrass, the Infamous Stringdusters and Trampled by Turtles.
The Turtles, who hail from Duluth, Minnesota, formed as a Dave Simonett side project over 20 years ago. It became his focus after some thieves made haste with his equipment while he played a gig. Left with only an acoustic guitar, Simonett decided to let that drive his other (now main) band.
Singer/guitarist Dave Simonett of Trampled by Turtles will be here with the band for a Cleveland Agora performance on Thursday, December 12. (Photo by Jeff Hahne/Getty Images)Getty Images
There are plenty of reasons to catch he and the Turtles when they perform at the Cleveland Agora next Thursday, December 12. They’re no longer teenage, but certainly qualify as mutants when it comes to virtuosity. Here are “3 Reasons” to grab a ticket to the show:
3. Fortune favors the bold. Simonett hadn’t been much for bluegrass; his young bandmates were also newcomers to the genre when they started. Not so now. They’ve tackled the old-time songcraft and phrasing with their rock and roll hearts; their first record, “Songs from a Ghost Town” (2004), kicked open doors that usually creaked open.
As a crossover act, the next several years found them headlining major folk festivals, as well as buzzworthy support slots at the Austin City Limits Festival, Coachella and Lollapalooza.
2. Divine music is “Dead ahead.” Dig into Reddit or any fan forum and you’ll find that a “TXT” concert is a slam dunk. Inspired by the loose, jam-band pathos of acts like the Grateful Dead, shows ebb and flow with joyful musicianship, improvisation and mountain-time atmosphere. They’re building a legacy with every gig.
1. A fountain of youth. As the lines between roots and pop music continue to blur (see Lord Huron, Caamp, Mt. Joy, etc.) younger generations have been breathing in the rare air that Simonett & Co. inhabit. To wit, older generations who have followed the likes of the Dead, Phish and the H.O.R.D.E. bands have tapped into the Turtles as well. Multigenerational audiences never had it so good.
Trampled by Turtles with special guests The Last Revel will perform at the Cleveland Agora, 5000 Euclid Ave., Cleveland next Thursday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at axs.com.