Culture
2016 Gladden House Sessions: Town Mountain
By: Tiffanie Fogel
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Check out Town Mountain, an Asheville, NC based bluegrass band, on this episode of Gladden House Sessions, brought to you by collaboration between the Nelsonville Music Festival, the Ohio University School of Media Arts & Studies and WOUB Public Media.
Town Mountain has the heart and soul of a traditional bluegrass band with lyrics that provide a modern twist to an older genre. The band, fronted by Robert Greer on lead vocals and supported by Phil Barker, Jesse Langlais, Bobby Britt and Adam Chaffins, pulls mainly from the topics of traveling and the lifestyle of an artist for their material.
Their energy hasn’t gone unnoticed: Town Mountain won both Band of the Year and Vocalist of the Year titles during the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass Convention. Their most recent album, Southern Crescent, was released earlier this year and has been described by some critics as a “career defining album.” Perhaps their most popular song is a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” off of their 2008 album Heroes and Heretics.
For their set, Town Mountain started off with “Comin’ Back to You” off of Southern Crescent. Their music was lively despite the lyrics about missing someone, and the large crowd was moving along with the tune. The songs that followed, all from their most recent album, included “House with no Windows,” “Ain’t Gonna Worry Me” and “Whiskey with Tears.” All four songs were masterfully played and widely enjoyed by the continuously growing crowd. Town Mountain is described as a band that can entertain an audience, and they certainly lived up to that standard.
For more Gladden House Sessions, you can check them out here.