Steep Canyon Rangers go "Arm in Arm"

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – Steep Canyon Rangers will release "Arm In Arm" on Oct. 16 on Yep Roc Records.

The band also announced three free drive-in theatre shows in their home state,

"Every River," the second track from their 13th album, is at all digital service providers.

Recorded over several days at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville, which marked the first time the band recorded outside North Carolina, "Arm in Arm" was produced by the band with Brandon Bell (Zac Brown, John Prine). Featuring 11 original compositions, the band pays homage to their early influences and bluegrass.

"Arm In Arm" follows two 2019 releases that both debuted at number one on Billboard's Bluegrass chart: "North Carolina Songbook," an eight-song live album recorded at Merlefest featuring reinterpretations of songs from cross-generational North Carolina icons and "Be Still Moses," an 11-song collaboration between the band and the Asheville Symphony, which featured a collaboration with Boyz II Men and the Asheville Symphony on the title track.

The Steep Canyon Rangers are Woody Platt, Graham Sharp, Mike Guggino, Nicky Sanders, Mike Ashworth, Barrett Smith.

Drive-in tour shows are:
Aug. 27 - Brevard Music Center - Brevard, N.C.
Aug. 28 - The Riveter - Asheville, N.C.
Aug. 29 - Old Avondale Mill Site - Burnsville, N.C.

WNCW will live stream the Asheville show. All shows start at 8:30 p.m. For tickets, visit: Candaid.org.

More news for Steep Canyon Rangers

CD reviews for Steep Canyon Rangers

North Carolina Songbook

The mandolin and fiddle instrumental break during "Stand By Me," exemplifies what makes Steep Canyon Rangers' "Songbook" something special. "Stand By Me" has likely already been covered to death. You may say that until you reach this instrumental insertion, which - for a moment - may make you believe this supportive lyric was always part of a bluegrass song. Steep Canyon Rangers plays an album of all covers, recorded live at MerleFest 2019, and it's »»»

Be Still Moses

In many ways, Steep Canyon Ranger's remarkable collaboration with the Asheville Symphony marks a turning point in the band's career. It's the culmination of a trajectory that has brought them from their place among the contemporary bluegrass/nu-grass elite to a new position as a mainstream ensemble. That's evidenced by the fact that at this point, their songs are no longer confined to any genre in particular. A most unlikely union with Boyz II Men on the gospel-tinged title »»»

Out in the Open

Some two full decades after coming together as a group of North Carolina college buddies who wanted to start their own bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers continue to find themselves faced with a dilemma of sorts: while they are at this point perhaps the best known bluegrass band in the country, perhaps even the world, a sizable portion of their renown is amongst people who know them mainly as "Steve Martin's backup band," by virtue of their longtime association with the »»»

Elsewhere in the news