The Culture // Music
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ARM IN ARM The Steep Canyon Rangers release new music just in time for fall. words SUNNY HUBLER / photo courtesy STEEP CANYON RANGERS by JOSHUA MOORE
Steep Canyon Rangers Arm In Arm released October 16 on Yep Roc Records. “Every River,” the second track from their thirteenth studio album, is available through all digital service providers. The Steep Canyon Rangers officially formed in the fall of 1999, when most of the band’s founding members were students and friends at UNC Chapel Hill. As musicians, Graham Sharp, Charles Humphrey, and Mike Guggino arrived in the bluegrass genre at the same moment. Sharp had sustained a soccer careerending knee injury and traded his cleats for a banjo. Lead singer and guitarist Woody Platt was getting the hang of guitar as Humphrey was exploring the upright bass. And Guggino had just sold his saxophone and electric guitar to purchase a mandolin. “At the outset, it was just a fun hobby,” recalls Platt. “We played a lot of covers, but as soon as we called ourselves a band we started writing our own songs.” The Steep Canyon Rangers have always stood out in the bluegrass genre. They attracted the attention of actor and musician Steve Martin in 2009 and soon began touring with him. Together,
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they released two collaborative albums. Shortly thereafter, the band’s solo album Nobody Knows You won a Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album. Now, the band plays around 100 shows annually, in addition to hosting their own annual fundraiser, the Mountain Song Festival in Brevard, and volunteering extensively for nonprofits serving underprivileged youth. Arm in Arm, an 11-song set was recorded at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville, the first time the Grammy-winning group has stepped outside of their home state to record. The LP “sees the band expanding their sound by paying homage to their early influences and the bluegrass tradition for which they’re known,” according to a band statement released recently. Steep Canyon Rangers also announced a trio of late August drive-in concerts in North Carolina. Find more info, tickets, and buy the new album on the SCR website today. info steepcanyon.com / @steepcanyonrangers