The Hillbenders - The Hillbenders

Hard-charging bluegrass outfit The HillBenders are celebrating their 10year anniversary as a band with the release of an eponymous new albumand an anniversary tour. THE HILLBENDERS is the follow-up to Missouriquintet's critically acclaimed 2015 release, TOMMY: A BLUEGRASS OPRY,an acoustic interpretation of The Who's legendary rock opera of the samename. Rolling Stone said the album turned that pivotal moment in rockhistory upside down but still retained its stunning creative juice.The HillBenders were able to recruit Eric Uglum (Ralph Stanley, AlisonKrauss, Sara Watkins, Rob Ickes) to produce THE HILLBENDERS and all11 tracks were cut live with the entire band, with the only overdubs beingadditional harmony vocals. As usual with this band, they all write and sing.The HillBenders also came across some interesting cover selections to helptell their story, pulling from the electro-pop world with a grassy version ofMGMT's Kids.There's also a co-write with the late, great John Hartfordthat came from guitarist Jim Rea, who crafted the music and melody tolyrics found in Hartford's book, Word Movies.High energy performances, adiverse catalog, and a slice of humor make way for what appears to be moreof a brotherhood than a business - and each audience they play for becomesa part of that family.