Barnstar! is a quasi-imaginary bluegrass band featuring Mark Erelli, Zack Hickman (upright bass), Charlie Rose (banjo), Jake Amerding (fiddle) and his father Taylor Amerding (mandolin). Everyone in the band is so busy that they only do two or three gigs per year, usually in noisy bars, where they say they "can't really judge if we sound good enough to have as much fun as do." Despite the infrequency of appearances, Barnstar! was awarded an Iguana Fund Grant from Club Passim (Cambridge MA) to document what had been, until now, merely a series of fleeting, ephemeral music moments in local bars.
Barnstar! convened for three three days just before the fourth of July at Dimension Sound in Jamaica Plain, MA and recorded 13 songs live in the studio. From the start, it was apparent that this infrequent, almost accidental band had something going on, and things kept steamrolling as we got more excited. Everyone in the band sings and are all multi-instrumentalists, but in Barnstar! they all stick to their main instruments and as a result, captured take after take very quickly.
It is with great pride that we announce "C'mon!," the debut record from Barnstar! The harvest is in, the fruit is ready to be picked and it is sweet and juicy. Sure, the elements are familiar, mandolins, banjos, and soaring four or five-part harmonies, but this ain't your daddy's bluegrass (though I guess in the case of Jake Armerding it is...his dad is in the band). But this record owes as much to the spirit of The Traveling Wilburys as it does to The Louvin Brothers. Featuring songs by Neil Young ("Cowgirl In The Sand"), Paul Simon ("Boy In The Bubble"), and Dawes ("When My Time Comes") alongside re-worked tunes of mine ("Troubadour Blues," "Take My Ashes To The River"), as well as a never-before-recorded original ("Charlottesville"), "C'mon!" is a bold and energetic snapshot of a scrappy, vibrant bluegrass band.