Having wooed fans and industry professionals alike when they took the stage at last year’s International Bluegrass Music Association “World of Bluegrass” showcase in Raleigh, North Carolina, rising bluegrass group High Fidelity continued their ascent with the release of Hills And Home earlier this month via Rebel Records. Taken from that album, hold on to your seats as they transport you back in time to the classic 1950s and ‘60s era of bluegrass with a twin banjo rendition of the classic Don Reno & Red Smiley instrumental “Follow the Leader”.
The High Fidelity lineup took shape in early 2014, leading up to a competition for new bands at the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America) convention in Nashville. Jeremy, fiddle player (and now wife) Corrina Rose Logston Stephens, and banjo player Kurt Stephenson, bassist Vickie Vaughn and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Amick (mandolin, banjo, guitar) comprise the full-lineup of the band. After winning the 2014 SPBGMA contest, the band began working on their self-titled, self-released album, released in 2016.
“My goal is for someone to hear what we do and for them to think, ‘That’s a cool traditional bluegrass band!’ And maybe later see a photo of us and think, ‘Wow, they have two women in the band – I never would have thought that!’” says Corrina.
Jeremy and Corrina co-produced Hills And Home with Brad Benge. On six of the selections, Jeremy and Corrina sing in duet style; on six others, Kurt joins them for magnificent trio singing. Two instrumentals round out the collection.
“The ‘High Fidelity’ labels have since become synonymous with great, classic bluegrass recordings in the bluegrass collective consciousness,” Corrina says. “‘High Fidelity’ is really an archaic term now but I think when people hear it, even if they don’t have a full technical understanding of it, it still evokes connotations of LPs and vintage recordings… we are still drawing from that spirit of the music birthed in the High Fidelity era.”
http://www.highfidelitybluegrass.com/
Photo Credit: Russ Carson