Missy Raines Balances Bluegrass and Jazz on Acoustic Bass
Missy Raines is well-known in bluegrass circles for her expressive plunking on the acoustic bass. Indeed, she's been named bass player of the year seven times by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), more often than anybody else. On Tuesday (Feb. 10), she finally released her first album as a bandleader, Inside Out, on Compass Records. The arrangements sometimes veer closer to jazz than bluegrass, but I can tell you this for sure - it's all interesting. The high level of creativity can be credited to Raines' wise decision to surround herself with young pickers like Michael Witcher on lap steel and resophonic guitar, Dillon Hodges on guitar and Ethan Ballinger on mandolin. She wrote the meandering title track with another young Nashville musician, Megan McCormick, who also sings and plays on a few tracks. You know how bluegrass folks talk about bridging the gap between generations? That's what Raines is doing here, and it seems to me that she's doing it very well.
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RedMaZ says:
My first introduction to Missy was when she was working with the great guitarist Jim Hurst. After hearing their music for quite some time, they eventually made it to my town for a concert. It was amazing what just the two of them did on stage that night. I made it a point to meet Jim and Missy after the show. When I shook Missy’s hand I couldn’t help notice how soft her hands were. After what I just witnessed from her on stage, I was expecting some fairly thick calluses. She’s an amazing bassist. I will be checking out her new project.
solongsowrong says:
Another fine example of an artist where it’s about the music, not all glitz and fakeness like whoever that scary person is, in the blog below this one.
cj says:
Interesting I will have to pick one up. I would love to hear it. Some of these bands have the greatest artists every. We get so focused on the main artist.