Meadow Mountain is breaking into the national Bluegrass scene this year. With appearances at the prestigious Freshgrass Band contest and official showcase slots at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) conference, it is surprising to some that only five years ago, three of the core members were learning their first fiddle tunes.
With a foundation of discipline and hard work, the members of Meadow Mountain set out at their formation to learn the traditional stylings of Bluegrass, which can be heard throughout their first record. They honed their skills over roughly 80 sets of music in one month aboard a cruise ship. They hosted Denver’s only performance Bluegrass jam around a condenser mic, and in 2017, they won the prestigious Rockygrass band contest, which caught the ear of Infamous Stringduster Chris Pandolfi. He produced their debut record, which was released with regional and national press attention.
Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose joined Meadow Mountain as their banjo player in 2018. His progressive banjo playing aligned with the band’s vision to produce music that pushed against genre barriers, and they quickly took off writing new songs. Fans who see the band in 2019 will hear a Meadow Mountain that is progressing rapidly. The songs that will end up on their sophomore record are instrumentally soaring, hard-driving songs that range in subject matter from early morning mountain climbing to progressive political ideals.
To make it easy, when asked what kind of music they play, Meadow Mountain will answer, “Bluegrass”, but they are quick to add that it comes from Colorado, with love.