Ragtag East Nash Grass Say We’re All God’s Children

Featuring Harry Clark on mandolin, James Kee on guitar, fiddler Maddie Denton, bassist/Dobro player Jeff Partin, and Cory Walker on banjo, East Nash Grass began as ragtag group of pickers blowing off steam at a honky-tonk in Madison, Tennessee, just northeast of Nashville proper. It has always been a band open to both unusual ideas and committed to the classic form. Still, their new album, All God’s Children, takes the metaphorical cake.

After winning the 2024 IBMA Award for New Artist of the Year, touring internationally, and even making their co-headline debut at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, All God’s Children feels like a joyful tribute to the many ways life gets good – and to bluegrass’s many salt-of-the-earth styles. With skillful traditional picking and a focus on diversity (both thematically and in the band’s tendency to share the spotlight at center stage), East Nash Grass deliver a truly spirit-satisfying album. Just don’t let its name fool you – this ain’t gospel.

“I enjoyed that it’s a little bit of a misnomer,” says Kee, with a touch of mischief in his voice. “We are a fairly traditional bluegrass band and we do some gospel music, but … anybody who knows us would know pretty immediately, it’s not a gospel album. I kind of liked that it would make somebody who doesn’t know our music take a second look.”

Out August 22 and featuring everything from good-old fashioned traveling songs to a reimagined West African folk tune, All God’s Children celebrates the coming together of worlds. James, Harry, and Maddie spoke with BGS from a Montana tour stop and explained how they reached their universally minded creative crossroads.

What’s the vibe with you guys these days? The last few years have been a bit of a Cinderella story and you’ve done so well. How are you feeling creatively?

Harry Clark: We’re in road mode right now. I feel like we were in a real creative mode around December when we were finishing the album and you kind of have to go into a different mode for … “Alright, let’s get through three weeks on the road in a van.” That’s a different kind of mindset.

But going into the album process, was there no pressure to change the way you’ve been doing things in the past – just because now there’s been a little more success?

HC: I feel like there are just ideas and things that seem to exist that we want to bring into life. That’s how the creative process has been for us. I wouldn’t call it aimless, but we kind of just let it happen on its own in terms – what songs people are bringing in and what the mood of those are. It’s just recording a record. It’s kind of like seasons of your life.

This one has a little bit of everything. You’ve got some new songs, a couple covers, and even a [modified] Liberian chant. Was this just kind of a cross section of everything the band is into right now?

Maddie Denton: I think everybody’s been getting into different stuff on their own. And everybody’s writing with other people, while we’re writing together. So I guess “cross section” is a good word for it. We just wanted to put together some songs that we liked.

How about thematically? It’s called All God’s Children and you guys say very clearly this is not a gospel record, but it does have a spiritual element, right? What do you mean by that?

James Kee: We debated a couple different titles. I was afraid that this traditional bluegrass crowd would hear that [title] and assume it was gospel, which would be an issue. And then once I kind of sunk my teeth in, I actually thought that [song, “All God’s Children,”] was the heart of the album, and it just seemed like the right title.

All the songs on it are a good showing of different walks of life. It’s not just one thought for each song. It’s not about the same person throughout each song. It’s different short stories throughout the album. It kind of goes hand in hand with “all of God’s children,” because it’s a bunch of different things. Not just one.

MD: It also came about after we had done some international travel as a band. Some of us had been to other countries, but not with the band, and then in February of last year we went to Ireland and Switzerland with East Nash Grass and this record started falling into place after that. And then later in the year we went to France. I think we got inspired by seeing some different folks and ways of life than what we were used to. There’s a small element of world music inspiration behind the record, too. So I think that comes from just traveling more.

You have always been a very inclusive-minded band, while also sticking pretty close to traditional bluegrass roots. When you started at Dee’s [Country Cocktail Lounge], was that kind of the goal?

HC: I feel like that’s where we all came from individually. Each and every one of us grew up going to these lawn chair snapping festivals where you go up and they have the same bands every year and there’s people out watching the show in their lawn chairs – sometimes sleeping [like] they’re dead. But there’s also this killer community of jamming that happens at these festivals, and you go and you jam with people and you just learn the repertoire. You get together with people you haven’t even met before, but who’ve been in the same places, and you can just all kind of speak the same language.

We were able to take it from there. We all have that same background from our childhoods of going to these places and these shared experiences. So when we got together, it was like we had been doing it for a long time. But everyone’s got new ideas, new energy coming from other places musically as well. … I think we all pull from that individually and it comes out sounding like traditional bluegrass, but at the same time, not really at all.

After winning the IBMA New Artist of the Year award, do you feel like that is more accepted in the bluegrass community nowadays?

HC: It’s art and it has to move … so it just seemed like the time to do our own thing. The most important part is always the music. I hope it stands the test of time and somebody else listening can look back 20 years from now and say it was a good guidepost throughout the evolution of bluegrass music. That is most important to us, as opposed to trying to fit into a certain box that has just been built many, many times.

You all do a really good job of sharing the spotlight. Different singers, different featured instruments. From a friendship perspective, what’s it like watching your bandmates do their thing every night?

MD: Man, it’s pretty cool. Everybody is such a good musician and such a good singer. I mean, even Cory can sing a little bit – he just doesn’t like to do it and play banjo at the same time. Everyone has a little special unique thing that makes them stand out.

HC: For me personally, everyone has something they do really well that I just can’t do. And when I get to see ‘em do that, I’m in awe. It’s inspiring when someone crushes something right in front of your face and you’re like, “Man, I dunno how they do that every time.”

JK: Also anything that’s a win for one person in the band is a win for the whole band, and that’s kind of how we’ve looked at it. It’s like it’s the sum of all parts.

The reason I ask is because you made your headline debut at the Ryman Auditorium a couple of weeks ago. What was that night like?

HC: It’s hard to describe. It’s the Mother Church. It’s truly my favorite venue to see a show, and now play a show. There’s no time like the first time … and it’s just such an honor to be up there, have our name up there, and have our own little night there.

There’s only a few places where once I get on stage, it hits me where I’m at and what I’m doing, and then I focus in on everything so close, and that never helps me out. To touch on the question you asked prior to this, one of the best parts about this band is there’s been times where I felt like I didn’t play a great show personally, but the band probably played one of its best shows, because everyone can step up and pick up weight. It really pays off when that team spirit comes out, because I do feel like that night at the Ryman I got up there and was in my head – because of this place. But as a band, the band crushed it. Once again. It was a great feeling.

Tell me a little bit about the story behind “All God’s Children.” It’s got this warm and fuzzy bluegrass feeling and then you’ve got some joyful children noises in there too. Where’s all this coming from?

MD: Well, that’s our buddy David Grier’s son Nash Grier. Nash helped us out with those joyful children noises.

JK: Yeah, Nash is seven and he’s fluent in Japanese and English.

MD: And he can play – I mean, probably any instrument, but I’ve seen him play fiddle. He’s crazy good, so everybody keep their eye open for old Nash Grier. He’s coming for everybody’s jobs in Nashville.

HC: That was a song that me and Christian Ward and Cory Walker wrote and I kind of had that phrase in mind. The idea behind the song was loosely based on real life, but at the same time, it kind of has that old-time limerick thing where you can take whatever the words are and use your imagination to make ‘em what you want it to mean.

How about “Jump Through the Window.” Is this one the Liberian chant? I think it speaks to the way you made all these songs your own that I can’t necessarily tell.

MD: Yeah! Our tour manager and my best pal, Brenna MacMillan, she grew up with some siblings adopted from Liberia, and they knew this song, this chant. It was like a thing that the Liberian kids over there knew. … Brenna came to me with this idea of like, “Hey, there’s this chant that I grew up hearing with my siblings and I think it would be cool bluegrass. Can you help me with it?”

Everybody spent time learning it because it’s kind of a weird thing, but we arranged it and everybody had really nice ideas. I think Jeff had some ideas at the end for those chord substitutions, and it just came together really nicely. Then we brought Brenna in to sing some harmony on it. There’s the part where we all are singing unison together, so Brenna is on that. The engineer of the record, Jake Stargel, also hopped on a mic and joined us in the little chant part. And James was the town elder singing the bass part.

That speaks to the inclusive nature of a set called All God’s Children, which you have done a few times here. I just wonder, what do you hope listeners take away from this batch of music?

HC: A bunch of merch. [Laughs]

MD: There’s a peacefulness to me about this record, and that comes from having seen some of the world and singing about those experiences and connectedness. For me, this record, it’s like we had to pull together to make it, and I want it to reach different types of folks and everybody feel connected.

HC: I remember when I was a teenager, I’d played bluegrass for eight years and it was becoming more and more the forefront of my life. And when I would hear something that hit me as new or fresh, it inspired me to want to do something new and fresh, and get out of the box a little bit. I hope we can do that for other young musicians. It feels good when you see a young musician that you see a little bit of yourself in, who is inspired by what you’re doing. It kind of gives it a little more gravity, and you realize, “Oh, there is reason and purpose behind this just other than fulfilling that weird urge to create art.”

JK: And to that end, with all of us being lifelong bluegrassers, we know there’s a big contingent of folks that know all these same songs that we know and won’t get outside of that box, and that is okay. There’s no problem if that’s what you want to do as a musician, is to play those same songs for the rest of your life. But I feel like this is a statement that you don’t necessarily have to do that. You can use the same traditional instrument lineup and be a bluegrass band by all norms, and create something new and do some new music, and this is kind of our offering.


Watch our DelFest Sessions with East Nash Grass here.

Photo Credit: Scott Simontacchi

WATCH: Carter & Cleveland, “With A Vamp In The Middle”

(Editor’s Note: Today, award winning fiddlers Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland announce their upcoming debut duo album, Carter & Cleveland, out March 14. To celebrate the announcement and the project’s lead single, we’re premiering a special live performance of the track, “With A Vamp In The Middle,” from the fabled stage of the Grand Ole Opry.)

Artist: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee and Charlestown, Indiana
Song: “With A Vamp In The Middle”
Album: Carter & Cleveland
Release Date: February 5, 2025 (single); March 14, 2025 (album)
Label: Fiddle Man Records

In Their Words: “This song has always felt like a national anthem for fiddle players and it’s our tribute to the legendary John Hartford and Vassar Clements. It’s long been a favorite for Michael and me to jam on – perfect for twin fiddles and a blast to improvise and trade licks on. Having Darrell Scott’s harmony vocals on [the studio version of] this track was an absolute honor, and his contribution took it to another level. I hope y’all enjoy it!” – Jason Carter

Credits:
Jason Carter – Fiddle, vocals
Michael Cleveland – Fiddle
Alan Bartram – Bass, harmony vocals
Cory Walker – Banjo
Bryan Sutton – Guitar
Harry Clark – Mandolin


Photo Credit: Sam Wiseman

East Nash Grass Bring Their Weekly Residency to the World

The avant-garde, southern rock icon Col. Bruce Hampton had a belief that defined his career: don’t take yourself seriously – take what you do seriously. That saying holds strong for East Nash Grass, a group who have entertained the crowds at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge (in Madison, Tennessee) with incredible bluegrass and charming stage antics every Monday night for nearly six years.

Bluegrass music has a longstanding tradition of bands performing recurring shows. In the 1970s, J.D. Crowe & the New South rose to popularity while performing five nights a week at the Red Slipper Lounge in Lexington, Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Seldom Scene was gaining traction in the Washington, D.C., area with weekly performances at the Red Fox Inn and later the historic Birchmere. Performing that much allowed those bands to not only grow musically, but to grow their own, almost cult-like fanbase.

While the members East Nash Grass – Harry Clark (mandolin), Maddie Denton (fiddle), James Kee (mandolin), Gaven Largent (Dobro), Jeff Picker (bass), and Cory Walker (banjo) – are getting ready to celebrate six years of performing Monday nights at Dee’s, their sophomore record Last Chance to Win is charting No. 4 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart, they’re booked at festivals all over the country, and they’re nominated for IBMA’s New Artist of the Year award. 

BGS recently caught up with James Kee and Cory Walker to discuss the new album, the origins of the band, and the longstanding residency at Dee’s.

East Nash Grass started with a rotating cast in 2017, playing every Monday night at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. Can you tell me about the origins of the group, and when the lineup came together as something more than a weeknight pickup band? 

James Kee: We had a lot of lineup changes in the early days – we solidified that lineup by 2018 or so, but it wasn’t as strong as the current lineup. We had Maddie [Denton] then, but Cory started playing with us full time in 2019, as did Harry [Clark]. And when that happened, East Nash Grass became serious. We just gelled together. It was super comfortable musically, and also professionally. 

Cory Walker: I got a gig in 2015 or ’16, at Arrington Vineyards, and came up with the band name then. There was such a resurgence of bluegrass in the East Nashville area. Putting together the band, if I couldn’t get this one person on mandolin, there were five others I could call. Then, Harry and I met this guy that worked at Dee’s and wanted to put together a weekly bluegrass show. So that’s how we were associated in the very beginning. But I wasn’t playing every Monday night, and around that same time Harry moved to Lexington for a couple of years to play with the Wooks. 

You’ve definitely become known for your unique stage presence and antics, between (and often during) songs, and you take that same energy from Madison to stages all over the country. How has playing a weekly gig for six years shaped the way you perform?

CW: I’ve played with so many people who use the same old formula. I don’t want to be a mouthpiece for the thing that has always worked. That’s one of the things I love about playing in this band, turning peoples heads upside down. It’s fresh air. 

JK: We’ve each been a sideman in all these different bands, and so many can suck the air out of the room between songs. They’re great, but we really wanted to loosen up from that. I have the same irreverence for the “same old” that Cory does. 

How has your stage presence been received in more traditional performance spaces?

JK: It’s not for everyone, but never any negative experiences. Often, they’re not sure what to think. People might think we do something different than other bands, but we do a lot of the same, just in our own way. We got on the Ryman stage and thanked Tim Allen – twice.

CW: But, he was there… this is really new territory, as far as the stage show. I love to go back to the Dee’s stream from the past week and watch the clown moments, where somebody does something off the wall and then everyone else responds to it in some way. In any other band scenario, that person would be fired, immediately.

Your performances are always unique, but so is this new record. How did you choose material, and go about recording Last Chance to Win?

JK: We knew there were some songs that people wanted us to record, that we’d already been doing. That was “Slippin’ Away,” “How Could I Love Her So Much,” three or four songs. We went in and cut those and got used to the environment, this particular studio and this first album with Jeff [Picker] on bass. I brought a lot of material to the first record, and I wanted to see what everybody else would bring to this one. It ended up having this old-time vibe that just naturally occurred, and so we ended up finishing out the record with more songs that fit that. 

Everyone in East Nash Grass seems to get their own voice, despite each of you having worked for countless solo artists. What’s it like to all come together and cultivate your own fanbase?

CW: Having a band where everyone has a say really makes people care more about the music and want to stick around. Even though we’ve all worked for bigger acts, we’re getting in together at the bottom floor. The people at our release show were primarily our age and younger. Those people will stick around, too. 


Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, “Fiddler’s Pastime”

A handful of pages into her book, How To Do Nothing, artist, scientist, and researcher Jenny Odell makes the point that, under capitalism and the Protestant work ethic somewhere along the way modern human understanding of time transformed from being something that “passes” to being something that’s “spent.” Time is money. Where, in the not too distant rearview, time was not always considered a scarce resource or commodity. Instead of passing the time, we now spend it. 

Mid-pandemic, the distinction between these two perspectives feels even more important. To musicians — especially the working, middle-class set whose income hinges almost entirely on performing and creating constantly — the enforced global pausing of COVID-19 has allowed many the ability to refocus their priorities, retooling creativity to be something by which we all pass time, once again, instead of ravenously spending it. 

Any listener familiar with the bowstrokes of fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (Mile Twelve) will know this particular fiddler’s favorite pastime is… well, fiddle. The most tangible hallmark of her playing style may be her practice regimen, a preponderance of thought and intention evident in every last note. On her debut solo album, Fiddler’s Pastime, and especially its titular number, the oft-trod licks and turns of phrase she pulls on from those hours of study and rehearsal don’t feel canned or stilted, shoehorned into contexts to impress or beguile. They feel like simple outgrowths of Keith-Hynes’ tender-while-precise playing (and practice).

The musical backdrop of “Fiddler’s Pastime,” provided by Harry Clark (mandolin), Jeff Picker (bass), Jake Stargel (guitar), and producer Wes Corbett (banjo), acts as a cozy base layer of security and support for Keith-Hynes’ sometimes languid or teasingly lazy melodic interplay. But the cherry-on-top of this exquisite Bill Monroe via Kenny Baker cover is Laura Orshaw’s immaculate, identical-level twin fiddle. Awarded Fiddle Performer of the Year from the trad-facing Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPGBMA) in 2019, Orshaw’s fiddling remains dismally underrated on the national and international scenes. She shines here with her longtime friend and collaborator. 

The dots are seamlessly connected; between Keith-Hynes, Orshaw, and this superlative crackerjack band, Fiddler’s Pastime is one album well-suited for inclusion in our quiver of pastimes to take us through this pandemic isolation.


Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi