By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
As part of a busy summer touring schedule of the United States and Canada that includes several major bluegrass festival, but also a church or two and a pizza parlor, Nu Blu clearly believes in bringing new bluegrass to the people.
They also, it seems, believe in looking to the future, musically, while they pay respect to the past with their Americana/country sound.
Part of a long road trip, starting and ending at the band’s home in Siler City (that’s North Carolina, in case you’d like to know), husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh, with their bandmates, will be making a stop at Lamar Park for Wyoming Concerts In The Park Tuesday, July 16.
“I love that we get to wake up someplace different every day,” Daniel Routh said in supplied material, about Nu Blu’s heavy road schedule. “We meet people from all over the country.”
In Wyoming, among the songs probably on the setlist at their local stop will be originals like “A Lot More Love” and “A Fool and Her Heart” — both off the band’s 2017 release “Vagabond” — as well as respectfully reworked covers of Country/Americana classics such as Waylon Jennings’ “Good Hearted Woman” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”.
They’ll likely play more off of “Vagabond”, but, to be honest, they had me at Dylan.
“We were playing this show and we just kinda decided we’d do ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.’,” Carolyn Routh said in supplied material. “We hadn’t rehearsed it; we hadn’t even played it together before. But we pulled it off that night, and the audience loved it.”
Above and beyond the musical skills of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Daniel, the banjo playing of Zach McCracke, and the fiddle/mandolin work of Justin Harrison, there is something special about Carolyn’s vocals (not to say she can’t handle a bass!).
Hearing “Knockin’ …” and “Good Hearted Woman” sung by a woman is both unique and memorable, and Carolyn’s sound on “A Lot More Love” and “A Fool and Her Heart” brings comparisons to a young Dolly Parton — a comparison I’d not argue with.
For a video of “A Lot More Love”, visit here.
All and all, “Vagabond” the band’s sixth full-length release “delivers a set of songs that range from the melancholy to the exuberant, and at every step they prove they’ve got a knack for finding their way into the deeper parts of you,” someone writes on the band’s website about the songs.
The band formed in 2003, centered around Carolyn and Daniel previous projects. Their constant traveling has also changed the way they make music.
“If anything, I feel like the road has made us a sunnier bunch. In past albums, we’ve tended to gravitate towards the songs that make you cry,” Carolyn said, “but on this one, there are a number of just happy, happy songs.”
Bottom line is two fold: Bluegrass is perfect for a hot summer night in Wyoming, and Nu Blu brings out the big guns with their bluegrass repertoire. And, while there are many great pickers in the genera these days, some say its the vocals that make great bluegrass, and led by Carolyn and Daniel, Nu Bu has the vocal chops as well.
As the Wyoming concert season winds down — with Boardman Brown on July 23, Daddyz Breakdown on July 30, and Shadows of the Night on Aug. 6 — WKTV will continue to cover the concerts and offer replays on our cable channels (see the cable channel schedule here) and WKTV On-demand.
So Nu Blu will be waiting, patiently, as they bring new bluegrass to the people.
