Mountain Heart

Bluegrass favorites Mountain Heart paid tribute to the Allman Brothers Band Sunday afternoon, rumbling through the Southern rockers’ sprawling catalog. Arguably one of the finest pickers in Nashville, guitarist Seth Taylor stretched out during “Blue Sky” and “Midnight Rider,” with keyboardist Josh Shilling (on the Hammond B3 organ) channeling his inner Gregg Allman for a rollicking “Dreams.”

Mountain Heart bills itself as a hybrid bluegrass group, of which there are several who have released albums in the last few months. What sets Mountain Heart apart is their instrumentation, notably no banjo or fiddle but piano, guitars, mandolin and dobro instead from the core group. Electric guitars find their way into the mix as well. Also, all four members are contributing songwriters and harmony vocalists. On Soul Searching the band continues to explore their rather unique sound that marries bluegrass, pop, and roots music. The combination of piano with acoustic string instruments is a rather unusual configuration and it sounds just natural and splendid with these players. For more:

The dynamic, virtuosic and ever-evolving acoustic outfit Mountain Heart have never sounded better than on their new Compass Records release, SOUL SEARCHING, out today, Friday, August 10. With deft arrangements and all members contributing to the songwriting, Mountain Heart continues to put their own contemporary twist to traditional acoustic music with the addition of piano (think Little Feat, Bruce Hornsby). The title track, a co-write with Mountain Heart’s Josh Shilling and the The Infamous Stringdusters (featured on their GRAMMY-winning album,Laws of Gravity), captures the restlessness and melancholy of deciding which direction to take in life.

Looking inward lyrically, while continuing to reshape and polish their rustic sound, acoustic roots music virtuosos Mountain Heart take another leap forward with the lush and lovely Soul Searching. No longer the narrowly focused bluegrass traditionalists of old, they’ve evolved while taking care not to stray too far from their original calling.

Bluegrass quartet Mountain Heart are premiering a contemplative new song exclusively for readers of The Boot. Press play below to hear "Soul Searching."

Written by Mountain Heart frontman Josh Shilling and the Infamous Stringdusters' Jeremy Garrett, "Soul Searching" started with the two words in its title. "I kept singing and holding the words 'soul searching' out during the chord changes that became the chorus," Shilling recalls to The Boot.

"I sometimes sing out random lyrics when trying to get a song started, but they don't always stick," Shilling adds. "'Soul searching' did."

"Soul Searching" was originally recorded by the Stringdusters; it appears on their 2017 album Laws of Gravity. Shilling, though, knew the song would fit well with Mountain Heart's material and insisted on recording it with his bandmates. For more click link:

1. Soul Searching 1:36

2. Festival 10:48

3. More Than I Am 20:49

Watch Mountain Heart live @ Paste Studio NYC!

If you haven’t been following the evolution of Mountain Heart closely this past few years, you might be surprised by their new look and sound. The group that started with bluegrass superheroes Steve Gulley, Adam Steffey, Jim VanCleve, and Barry Abernathy has all new members, with a more pop-inflected sound that still draws on the band’s bluegrass roots.

The biggest change has come through the singing and songwriting of Josh Shilling, who has brought his main instrument, the piano, into the string band environment. An unusually gifted vocalist, Josh brings his many influences from the blues, rock, and Gospel world into the music Mountain Heart makes which truly defies description. It certainly isn’t bluegrass, though the elements are there, and it sure isn’t country, though you hear that as well. Would pop acoustic fit what they do? Perhaps so.

The band is completed by all star picker Aaron Ramsey, a master of all stringed instruments, fiery guitarist Seth Taylor, and bassist/reso-guitarist Jeff Partin. After a number of reorganizations, this four-piece lineup has some new music that is less aggressive than some of their jam band gyrations, and with a very pleasing, poppy vibe.

On this video for More Than I Am, written by Shilling and Marcus Hummon, they lay down a very radio-friendly sound, reminiscent of what Bruce Hornsby did when he hit the scene hard in the mid-1980s. Mandolin, guitar, bass, and piano – the latest string band setting!

Mountain Heart are gearing up to release their first new album in more that five years, and they’re revealing the song “Miss Me When I’m Gone” first to The Boot’s readers in this exclusive premiere. Mountain Heart’s soulful sound plays well on “Miss Me When I’m Gone,” a sassy farewell from a jilted lover. The song has definite Chris Stapleton vibes, so it’s no surprise, then, that the band’s upcoming record, Blue Skies, features a song co-written by Stapleton and Ronnie Bowman.

Today not a single member of the first MH remains, but what we know now could only have evolved through that journey. The pivot point of today’s band is the co-vocalizing of Shilling and new member Molly Cherryholmes, veteran of that unlikely rocket ship of a family bluegrass band. Her penetrating singing and fiddling play foil to Shilling’s unbridled Otis Redding vocal shredding. They’ve built a repertoire and a vibe that will be formally unveiled in May on the new album Blue Skies, the first Mountain Heart release in almost five years. I caught up with Shilling by phone this week and he’s ecstatic about every aspect of the new Mountain Heart.

Mountain Heart is set to return with Blue Skies, their first studio album in five years, on May 6th. The album finds the group reinvented with front man Josh Shilling being the only member previously featured on a Mountain Heart release. The rest of the line-up now includes violinist Molly Cherryholmes (of 5-time Grammy-nominees Cherryholmes), Jeff Partin, Aaron Ramsey, and Seth Taylor and while the quintet stays true its bluegrass roots, they add R&B, country, and jazz alongside some heavenly harmonies and brilliant musicianship creating a high-energy, soulful sound.

"Mountain Heart manages to straddle the line between complete reinvention and staying true to their roots — there's a palpable electric current running through "Blue Sky," while still maintaining the relaxed, festival-ready pulse they've become known for over the course of more than a decade" -Rolling Stone

Our first single from our upcoming record "Blue Skies" is finally here! Head over to PopMatters for an exclusive listen of our first single, 'Addicted.' "Blue Skies" will be released by Compass Records Group on May 6th.