OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW >> BIG IRON WORLD. NETTWERK 2006

There's old school, and then there's elderly school...  

What kind of East Coast magazine would we be if we ignored one of the region's oldest musical traditions--bluegrass. Sure, it seems like a quaint notion at first--a few guys picking and singing--but let's put aside the punk, hip-hop, and indie rock for a few minutes to recognize Old Crow Medicine Show. This Nashville-based quintet is keeping the sound of the mountains alive in true form, while reintroducing it to younger audiences across the country. Their most recent release, Big Iron World, is a must-have for anyone who considers their tastes to be even moderately eclectic.

OCMS stays true to the bluegrass tradition in both their sound and subject matter. Two banjos, a guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and bass weave slow, evocative rhythms and blast into hyper-fast ditties that are busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. The instruments set the tone for songs pertaining to all things Appalachian working class: union loyalty, drugs, drinking, factories, and the kind of women who can ruin entire lives. 

What makes OCMS so great is the fact that they're able to succeed in a genre where most of their colleagues have 30 to 50 more years of experience. One of bluegrass's earmarks is its emotional range: its true artisans could have you dancing up the walls with one track and in a slack-jawed, silent depression with the next. Big Iron World runs the entire spectrum. Nothing is sacrificed for the sake of making things palatable for younger listeners. They simply play their music, doing bluegrass the justice it deserves, and capturing their audience in the process. And for that, we respectfully raise our mason jars to them. By Eric Seeger