According to Sociograss, the toe-tapping music of the group’s home region of Scotland might feel somehow familiar to fans of American roots music …and vice versa. While having distinctive backgrounds, histories and stylistic features, both Indigenous music approaches were born in similar environments.
“The bluegrass community and the Scots/Irish trad community have a lot of cultural commonalities,” explained Sociograss fiddler and vocalist Ben Errington. “The pub jam session is a huge part of it, and people here respond really well to music on both sides of that, as there’s a shared energy and a shared theme in the storytelling within the lyrics. The folk music world in the broad is a really inclusive part of the musical landscape, and so I think that accessibility is really valued in both bluegrass and trad,” he said.
Self-described as a “rough and rowdy Americana collective,” Sociograss originally consisted of members of several other groups who came together as one.
Errington explained how location might influence the group’s vibe. He said he hopes the band “embodies the spirit and feeling” of the Leith area of Edinburgh, where Sociograss first started playing together.
“Leith’s a fantastic area, super diverse, culturally rich, and a lot of fun to be in,” he said, adding that it has an unmistakably strong identity. “I hope that there’s something in that narrative that runs through our band and our story, too,” he added.
Errington said even though the regional music scene feels sonically similar to Appalachian folk styles, the kind of music Sociograss plays isn’t all that common. Interest is growing, but it wasn’t as strong years ago. “In building this band, we’ve not had all that many local bands to look to for guidance on the genre-scape that we occupy,” he explained.
That being said, Errington feels the Americana influence is catching on in his neck of the woods. Sociograss does its part to spread its passion; it runs a weekly open jam session at a local pub in Leith (Bowlers Rest), which he said focuses on “bluegrass, old-time, early country, and American roots music.”
Sociograss strives to be fluid and open, leaving space for things that might not perfectly fit the expected bluegrass formula. “We draw influence from a lot of adjacent genres, and we always strive to achieve a sound that’s a little different,” he said. “We’re not a straight-ahead bluegrass band, but bluegrass is our foundation.”
The band’s debut album—“Made It All Up,” released in September 2024—features eight tracks, with an extra bonus track when the whole album is purchased on Bandcamp. “The songs, for the most part, are attempting to say something about us and about our experience here in Edinburgh and across the water in the states, where our guitarist hails from,” he said. “In a big way, it’s an homage to our musical home in Leith, a place that is very dear to us.” It was recorded over just a few days in 2022. Paul Dennington, whom Errington described as a studio “wizard,” produced the record.
The other current members of Sociograss are Tim Leslie (guitar, vocals), Mark Hand (mandolin, vocals), Jimmy Wright (banjo, vocals), Conal McIntosh (double bass, vocals), and Alex Riach (fiddle, vocals). The band’s name is interesting; it’s an obvious play on the word “sociopath.” When they first started, they’d play at a local bar in Leith, the Mousetrap (the first track on the record, “Mousetrap Rag,” is a tribute to that venue). They had to come up with a name on the spot that would be used to book their budding act. After a “drunken brainstorming session,” someone came up with the play on words.
“After that, it just stuck,” Errington said. “But I promise we’re not a band full of sociopaths!”
He started making music at age three or four. Errington’s mother was a piano teacher; he credits her with helping him grow. He started out on a Suzuki violin, and by age seven or eight, the youngster was already busking on the streets of Edinburgh while his father supervised nearby. As he grew, he immersed himself more and more, playing with local bands and at festivals.
“So many young people give up on their hobbies, be it a musical instrument or dancing or whatever it is, when they get to their teenage years,” he said, adding that this is especially true “with instruments like violin, that maybe aren’t as cool as an electric guitar or a set of DJ decks.”
He’s glad he stuck with the fiddle. “It’s now been 25 years that I’ve been playing,” he said, “and it’s such an evocative and versatile instrument that I can’t imagine ever giving it up.”
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