Rewind/Fast Forward: Old Sky’s “Green on Fire”, Listen To This Now!

Though a large portion of what I listen to on a daily basis is clips and quick portions of songs that wind up in my inbox one way or another, occasionally something catches my attention by a chance meeting at a venue or a bar with someone I probably should have been listening to for a long time. The most of the music I listen to that is over a year old is either something incredibly nostalgic to me or a record I fell in love with when it was released and I can’t stop from spinning it today (regardless of how full that inbox remains of new things to dig into, or discard). “Green on Fire” from Old Sky gives me that nostalgia that I yearn for, something that is equally as much in the now and future as it is rich and deep with its own influential roots, and if I had heard it when it was first released at the beginning of 2015 I am more than certain that I would still be in love with it and spinning it today.

I got big into the bluegrass music my freshman year of college. A friend down the hall played a little record from some guy named John Hartford. That record was Aereo-plane and it triggered a full blown blackhole cyclone in all things bluegrass. Old school, newgrass, jamgrass and even what I suppose could be considered chambergrass in that Chris Thile became my personal savior…but I digress. Burlington-based Old Sky hits on all levels for me. There is a contemporary feel to their energy and passion. There are sprinkings of twangy electric guitar, sparse and downtrodden acoustic songs and barn burning, fiddle-punched numbers compacted into a tight and concise 5 song package. A little of something for everyone is infused into this collection.

From “I Stand Corrected” with an acoustic guitar, a late entry fiddle and sad and lonesome vocals. The shit-kicking banjo pluck led “Blue Eyed Reel” that really moves…stops…and then moves again on a dime. And the uptempo “Golden Hour” that is powered by singer-multi-instrumentalist Andrew Stearns vocal that is simply beautiful, balanced and attention grabbing. Rounding out the band for this album on vocals and fiddle is Shay Gestal, who’s harmonies are about as on point as you can get, and Pat Melvin on the big ol bass and tasty electric guitar twang. A whole lot of goodness from just 3 individuals.

This record…just listen to it today and catch this band if you can. One of my absolute new (to me) favorites. (oh, and the released another killer EP last year called “I Miss the Blue“, so yeah, go ahead and pick that up as well).