American band
Mountain Heart
is an American band, which combines elements of rock,
jam band
, country,
blues
,
jazz
, folk and
bluegrass music
.
[1]
Mountain Heart or its members have won or been nominated for multiple
Grammys
,
[2]
ACM
,
CMA
, and
IBMA
Awards.
[3]
They have appeared on the stage of the
Grand Ole Opry
[4]
[5]
[6]
The group is signed to
Compass Records
.
[7]
History
[
edit
]
The band was formed in 1998 by Barry Abernathy,
Steve Gulley
(vocals, guitar),
Adam Steffey
(mandolin), and
Jim VanCleve
. Johnny Dowdle was introduced early as the band's original bassist. For a short period, Adam Steffey left the band to play with bluegrass/gospel group
The Isaacs
, during which Steffey was replaced by Alan Purdue. Early in 2000, Dowdle left the group and was replaced by Jason Moore, the former bassist for the James King Band. In 2001, Steffey returned to the group, and Mountain Heart added virtuoso guitarist, Clay Jones,
[8]
in 2003.
Mountain Heart performed in Scarborough, Ontario as part of the Bluegrass Sundays Winter Concert Series in 2000 and 2001.
[9]
[10]
In 2005, they took part in the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival.
[11]
Later, in 2007, the band revisited Canada when they played the
Tottenham Bluegrass Festival
in Ontario.
[12]
The band released their first, eponymous project in 1999, on
Doobie Shea Records
,
[13]
following it quickly with an all-gospel release,
The Journey
.
[14]
In 2001, the band signed with Skaggs Family Records and soon released
No Other Way
, their first for the label.
[15]
The project was nominated for Album of the Year by the IBMA, with Mountain Heart being nominated for Entertainer of the Year. In 2004, they released
Force Of Nature
,
[16]
which again earned the band nominations for Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. The group released their final Skaggs Family Records recording in 2005, entitled
Wide Open
.
[17]
The album, produced by
Mark Bright
, was notable for a stylistic departure for the band into the americana/folk/country sound.
In December 2006, the band announced that lead singer,
Steve Gulley
, would be leaving the group.
[18]
In January 2007,
Josh Shilling
debuted as the band's new lead singer at the
Grand Ole Opry
in Nashville, TN.
[19]
In September of that year, Jones was replaced by Grammy Award winning guitarist, Clay Hess. In December 2007, mandolinist
Aaron Ramsey
replaced Steffey, making his debut also on the stage of
The Grand Ole Opry
. Clay Jones returned replacing Hess in January 2009,
[20]
joining the band again at The Ark, in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
. The Ark would later become the site of their 2007 recording,
The Road That Never Ends - The Live Album
, their first project with Rural Rhythm Records
[21]
out of Los Angeles, CA, a single record deal. The album was produced by
Jim VanCleve
and promoted with a music video produced by Josh Shilling, which brought the band critical acclaim and greater radio rotation.
[22]
[20]
[23]
In 2010, Mountain Heart opened a record label.
[24]
Under MH Music Group, the band recorded their first ever self-released project,
That Just Happened,
in January 2011. Among the album's featured guests are
New Grass Revival
front man &
Doobie Brothers
bassist,
John Cowan
,
[25]
legendary session drummer,
Eddie Bayers
,
[26]
and noted acoustic guitarist,
Bryan Sutton
.
[27]
Produced by VanCleve and Mountain Heart,
That Just Happened
received high praise from critics,
[28]
[29]
scoring a Four Star rating from
Country Weekly
.
[30]
In January 2012, Mountain Heart added guitarist
Seth Taylor
.
[31]
In November 2014, Barry Abernathy left the band to focus on family.
Jeff Partin
, of Volume 5, joined on guitar, dobro, bass, vocals, and virtually every other instrument.
On May 6, 2016, Mountain Heart released
Blue Skies
, which saw another revamped line-up, including members of the
Cherryholmes
.
[32]
Band members
[
edit
]
- Travis Anderson ? bass, vocals
[33]
- Ashby Frank - mandolin, lead and harmony vocals
[33]
- Josh Shilling
? lead and harmony vocals, piano, Hammond B3 organ, acoustic guitar
[33]
- Seth Taylor ?
guitars
, vocals
[33]
- Matt Menefee - banjo
[33]
Awards and recognition
[
edit
]
Mountain Heart was awarded the
IBMA
Emerging Artist of the Year award in 1999, before the release of their first recording.
[3]
The group was awarded Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year by the IBMA in 2002.
[14]
They have since been nominated for many other IBMA awards, including, "Entertainer of the Year" (2003, 2004, 2005), "Vocal Group of the Year" (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), and "Instrumental Group of the Year" (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007).
As a member of Mountain Heart, Adam Steffey won the Mandolin Player of the Year Award several times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006).
Jim VanCleve's solo album
No Apologies
, which featured all the members of Mountain Heart, was nominated for "Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year in 2007". The project also won Album of the Year Honors from the Indie Acoustic Awards.
[34]
Discography
[
edit
]
Music videos
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Mountain Heart Pulls a String"
.
Louisville.com
. 2013-01-19
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Complete list of Grammy nominees"
. SFGate. 2006-12-08
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
a
b
"Recipient History | IBMA Awards"
. Archived from
the original
on February 25, 2013
. Retrieved
February 9,
2013
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart with Tony Rice :: An Appalachian Summer Festival :: Appalachian State University"
. Archived from
the original
on November 8, 2011
. Retrieved
February 9,
2013
.
- ^
Zimmerman, Lee (31 July 2018).
"Josh Shilling talks Mountain Heart"
.
Bluegrass Today
. Retrieved
30 January
2019
.
- ^
Lawless, John (2022-10-31).
"Mountain Heart joins Carly Pearce at The Ryman"
.
Bluegrass Today
. Retrieved
2022-12-21
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart"
.
Compass Records
. Retrieved
2022-12-21
.
- ^
"Mountain Tradition - Clay Jones | Songs, Reviews, Credits"
.
AllMusic
. 2005-06-28
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
Strings
, newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, February 2000
- ^
Strings
, newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, April 2001
- ^
"Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival",
Strings
, newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, October 2005
- ^
Strings
, newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, June 2007
- ^
"Doobie Shea Records Shutters"
. Billboard. 2004-07-06
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
a
b
"Recipient History | IBMA Awards"
. Archived from
the original
on February 25, 2013
. Retrieved
February 9,
2013
.
- ^
Erik Hage (2002-09-17).
"No Other Way - Mountain Heart | Songs, Reviews, Credits"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Force of Nature - Mountain Heart | Songs, Reviews, Credits"
.
AllMusic
. 2004-05-11
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
James Christopher Monger (2006-02-14).
"Wide Open - Mountain Heart | Songs, Reviews, Credits"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart announcement expected soon"
. Bluegrass Today. 2007-01-04
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"The 'new guy' with Mountain Heart"
. Bluegrass Today. 2007-02-06
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
a
b
"Clay Hess to Sierra Hull"
. Bluegrass Today. 2008-12-17
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart - Road That Never Ends"
.
Amazon
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
Ruehl, Kim.
"American Bluegrass Music Brief History"
.
Folkmusic.about.com
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart | Road That Never Ends | Bluegrass Music Video"
. YouTube. 2008-02-04.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-21
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"That Just Happened from Mountain Heart"
. Bluegrass Today. 2010-09-17
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"John Cowan"
. John Cowan
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Eddie Bayers Online"
.
Eddiebayers.com
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Bryan Sutton"
. Bryan Sutton
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
Mason, Kim.
"The Amplifier: Music"
.
Bgdailynews.com
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Mountain Heart Expands the Boundaries of Bluegrass"
.
Nashvillemusicguide.com
. 5 May 2011
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"That Just Happened by Mountain Heart - Reviews - Nash Country Weekly"
.
Countryweekly.com
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
"Seth Taylor"
.
Sethtaylormusic.com
. 2015-09-23
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
Steffen, Chris.
"Album Premiere: Mountain Heart, 'Blue Skies'
"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
2016-05-06
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Lawless, John (2022-10-31).
"Mountain Heart joins Carly Pearce at The Ryman"
.
Bluegrass Today
. Retrieved
2022-12-21
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on April 23, 2013
. Retrieved
February 9,
2013
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
External links
[
edit
]
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Typical instruments
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Stylistic origins
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Sub- and fusion genres
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Notable performers
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