Concert Review: The Roys – The Station Inn, Nashville, TN – Oct 11, 2012

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on Concert Review: The Roys – The Station Inn, Nashville, TN – Oct 11, 2012
The Roys at The Station Inn
The Roys performed at legendary bluegrass venue The Station Inn.
Photo: Liv Carter/UCN

“If you’re having a good time, we’re The Roys…and if not, we’re Dailey & Vincent.”

Blending modern bluegrass, traditional country music, and good-natured humor, sibling duo The Roys entertained at legendary venue The Station Inn, Thursday, October 11, 2012. Those foregoing the bombast of the Tennessee Titans game got an intimate evening of exquisite music.

The people who still seem to think of bluegrass as being played by grey-haired mountain dwellers should experience its latest wave. With genre-benders and -blenders like Trampled by Turtles and Punch Brothers, bluegrass has stormed into the 21st century with modern melodies and arrangements, while remaining respectfully moored to its rich traditions.

Elaine and Lee Roy kicked off their just-shy-of-two-hours set with the fast-paced ‘Nothin’ I Can Do About it Now,’ and put up a strong case for the bright future of bluegrass. Weaving in plenty of nods to their musical forebears, they pulled out Merle Haggard and Bill Monroe tunes, and paid tribute to their personal heroes Dolly Parton and Ricky Skaggs. The title track of new CD, ‘New Day Dawning,’ was alternated with ‘Ring of Fire,’ and their first single, ‘Coal Mining Man,’ with a faultless version of Del McCoury‘s ‘Rain Please Go Away.’

They rounded out the set with fan-favorite, ‘Fast as We Roll,’ followed by the touching ‘Grandpa’s Barn,’ and the Dolly Parton-inspired ‘Trailblazer,’ was appropriately followed by show-closer ‘9 to 5.’

Further support for the rejuvenated bluegrass movement comes from the encouragingly young four-piece band, not a grey hair among them. With Clint White on fiddle, Matt Downing on banjo, Royal Masat on stand-up bass, and the only 18-year-old Harry Clark on guitar, this band quite literally represents the future of an increasingly popular genre.

People discover new music in all sorts of ways and I love hearing those stories. As bluegrass enters the mainstream, it will be brought before ever wider audiences. A recent article about Nashville, published in the Wall Street Journal, caught the attention of Julie and Bill from Bath, England (temporarily residing in Atlanta, GA). The article made mention of The Station Inn, the venue’s calendar mentioned The Roys, and as Bill explained to me, after a search for The Roys on YouTube they decided to make the trip, with this show being their first live experience in Music City. “I loved it. The Roys are great!” said Julie after the show. She described The Station Inn as “cozy and welcoming, not at all pretentious.” Not a bad description of the bluegrass community itself.

To find out more about The Roys, and catch them on tour, check out www.theroysonline.com.

For more information of bluegrass in general, visit www.ibma.org.

 

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter