{"id":23797,"date":"2022-10-02T05:30:31","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T09:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=23797"},"modified":"2022-09-26T08:46:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T12:46:09","slug":"acoustic-syndicates-natural-crossover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/02\/acoustic-syndicates-natural-crossover\/","title":{"rendered":"Acoustic Syndicate’s Natural Crossover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since forming in 1992, North Carolina quartet Acoustic Syndicate has cultivated and developed a musical style that draws from a wide array of genres and styles; the band has never allowed itself to be hemmed in by preconceived notions about what is or is not bluegrass. Or Americana. Or rock, or any number of other styles, for that matter. Yet the group doesn\u2019t take a studied or self-conscious approach to music-making; theirs is a wholly organic and natural creative process, one born of the band\u2019s all-encompassing attitude toward their creative journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t specifically set out with any specific style in mind,\u201d says Bryon McMurry. He sings and plays guitar and banjo in the group he co-founded three decades ago with brother Fitz (on drums and vocals) and cousin Steve McMurry (vocals, guitar, mandolin). The quartet is rounded out by bassist Jay Sanders; he\u2019s Acoustic Syndicate\u2019s \u201cnew guy,\u201d having joined 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Acoustic Syndicate\u2019s latest album, All in Time<\/i> showcases the eclecticism that has been a hallmark of the group since the release of its self-titled debut album in 1996. Compelling original material composed primarily by Bryon or Steve McMurry coexists on All in Time<\/i> with inspired and imaginative readings of songs by Willie Nelson (\u201cAngel Flying Too Close to the Ground\u201d), The Grateful Dead (\u201cBertha\u201d) and even The Velvet Underground (Lou Reed\u2019s iconic \u201cRock and Roll\u201d).<\/p>\n

When the McMurrys first put a band together in Boone, N.C., they called themselves the Mint Jubilee Bluegrass Band. But even then, their sensibilities were informed by a love of music by Bob Marley, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Gabriel and even progressive rock pioneers King Crimson. And when they launched Acoustic Syndicate, their aesthetic was rooted only loosely in bluegrass. \u201cRight out of the gate, we had congas, upright bass, banjo, and guitar in the band,\u201d says Bryon McMurry. \u201cSo we were already going down a different path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mashing up musical genres is commonplace today, but when Acoustic Syndicate began, doing so was still a fairly radical notion. McMurry won\u2019t take credit for launching an eclectic musical hybrid, but admits that his band was different. \u201cWe didn\u2019t realize that we were as original as we were,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were just playing these songs, and that\u2019s the way they came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cross-genre musical excursions can take a variety of forms. Nashville band Hayseed Dixie recast Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cBlack Dog\u201d into the bluegrass idiom more than 15 years ago. But as creatively successful as that was, it was played \u2013 at least to some degree \u2013 for laughs. When Acoustic Syndicate interprets the VU\u2019s rock classic, the result feels more natural, almost as if Lou Reed had intended the song to have a contemplative, subtle, semi-unplugged character.<\/p>\n

\"\"While he and his band mates are proud of their unique approach to music, Bryon McMurry admits that Acoustic Syndicate\u2019s hard-to-pigeonhole character can have its drawbacks. \u201cIt could very well be a double-edged sword,\u201d he observes. But the group doesn\u2019t spend a lot of time thinking about how to market itself in today\u2019s music landscape. The band has cultivated an ardent and dedicated following, one that appreciates the group’s willingness to trying things that \u2013 on paper, at least \u2013 might not ought to work.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s every bit as true for their original songs, like Bryon\u2019s \u201cBright Lights.\u201d The song\u2019s distorted electric guitar textures might seem to belie the group\u2019s name, yet it\u2019s a classic exemplar of the Acoustic Syndicate sound. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe it,\u201d McMurry says with a self-effacing chuckle. \u201cThe music that we make is what we\u2019re feeling and thinking at the time, and it just finds its way to an audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dogged sense of positivity is another through-line that connects the group’s music across three decades and countless live performances. And it\u2019s a foundational quality of All in Time<\/i>, the band\u2019s first album since 2013\u2019s Rooftop Garden<\/i>. \u201cWe hope that the music is something that will leave folks feeling a little bit better about the world, themselves and everybody around them,\u201d McMurry says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Acoustic Syndicate continues to follow its members\u2019 collective muse wherever it leads. \u201cThere are a couple of songs on All in Time<\/i> that break drastically different from what we’ve been doing prior [to now],\u201d McMurry concedes. With another chuckle, he quickly amends that statement. \u201cWhether that’s good or bad, I’m not sure yet. But it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since forming in 1992, North Carolina quartet Acoustic Syndicate has cultivated and developed a musical style that draws from a wide array of genres and styles; the band has never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,41,49,62],"tags":[4876],"class_list":["post-23797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-acoustic-syndicate","cat-6-id","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23800,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23797\/revisions\/23800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}