Which brings us to a band called The SteelDrivers, and their self-titled 2008 release.
Composed of crack session and independent musicians from Nashville, The SteelDrivers have re-ignitied the old argument as to what is and isn't bluegrass music. Going by the instruments, it seems easy enough: Chris Stapleton on guitar and lead vocals; Tammy Rogers on fiddle and harmony vocals; Richard Bailey on banjo; Mike Henderson on mandolin; and Mike Fleming on hound-dog bass. True-vine bluegrass purists would find nothing amiss here - this is as "bluegrass" a band as ever existed, going simply by the instruments they play.
But when Chris Stapleton launches into the album's first track, "Blue Side of the Mountain", we are immediately aware that "true-vine bluegrass" this is not. Stapleton has the cigarette-and-whiskey voice of a blues shouter from over in Memphis, not the high mountain tenor of a Monroe or a Stanley. Stapleton's voice comes out of the lowlands, the deltas and the swamps of the South, not the mountains of Appalachia.
But the lyrics he's singing — all originals written by Henderson and Stapleton — are pure bluegrass: songs of sadness and loss, of loneliness, of being driven to the wrong side of the law by bad love. If you like love songs, your only recourse is "If It Hadn't Been For Love": "Never would have loaded up a .44/Put myself behind a jailhouse door/If it hadn't been/If it hadn't been for love".
Some tunes, like "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey", are more honkytonk than bluegrass-festival; but others, like "If You Can't Be Good, Be Gone", wouldn't sound out of place on a Flatt & Scruggs record. "Midnight Train to Memphis" is pure country blues of the kind Hank Williams used to write.
One standout song from the album, "Sticks That Made Thunder", is harder to categorize, but only because it harkens back to the old-timey mountain songs that predated bluegrass. It has a sorrowful, dirgelike quality — carried by Rogers' mournful fiddle — that is perfectly lovely.
I don't know what Monroe or Ralph Stanley would make of the record, in truth, but bluegrass fans have largely taken The SteelDrivers to their hearts. The Nashville Music Awards gave "Bluegrass Album of the Year" honors to the album, and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) named The SteelDrivers as "emerging artist of the year".
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Gary Nichols named SteelDrivers' new singer
Friday, April 2, 2010 â€" Gary Nichols, a soulful singer from Alabama, is the new lead singer for The SteelDrivers. Nichols replaces Chris Stapleton, who left the driving bluegrass band to concentrate on family andsongwriting.
"The SteelDrivers are very happy to announce that multi-talented Muscle Shoals session pro, songwriter and guitar picker Gary Nichols is joining the band. He brings a seasoned soulful voice to the mix, and rehearsals have been going very smoothly."
"The first night we met Gary he had driven up to Nashville to audition and had been asked to learn four of our songs. He sat down, had a shot of brown, and launched into Blue Side of the Mountain. Around the room, eyebrows raised and sly glances were exchanged. By the time the harmonies blended for the first chorus, we all knew he had the gig. He then ripped off the other three songs with ease, sang a couple more of ours that had caught his ear and proceeded to teach us a couple of his. After he left, the vote was unanimous. Folks, we are thrilled to have Gary with us and it feels like we are picking up right where we left off. Gary is a guy who brings it from down deep, and you'll feel it like we did when you hear him. So, all is well. The torch has been passed. The music lives on, and we'll see you there."
Nichols was signed to the Universal label in 2004 and has releases songs, but never put out a full-length CD. His first single, Unbroken Ground, reached 39 on the charts in 2007. he had two more singles and left the label.