Photo credit for band photos to Kaitlyn Raitz.
Heralded as “Nashville’s newest bluegrass ambassadors,” East Nash Grass is making a splash with its traditional bluegrass sound with a foot toward the future.
As guitarist James Kee and the band crossed the Pennsylvania state line on their way to the first of several shows in the northeast last summer, James took the time to fill us in on all things East Nash Grass.
Each band member is a professional – and accomplished – musician. They played for fun on Mondays at the weekly bluegrass night at Dees’s Country Cocktail Lounge located (you guessed it) in East Nashville. What started as a loose collection of pickers gradually solidified into a committed group of dedicated bandmates in 2017. “We decided to tour and bring our own music into the mix,” says James. Things seemed to change overnight when the band opened for the Earls of Leicester at the Ryman in Nashville in 2022. “It’s been a wonderful journey. It just feels like we keep climbing.”
Cory Walker (banjo) came up with the name for the band. Cory and James are joined by Harry Clark (mandolin), Gaven Largent (dobro), Maddie Denton (fiddle), and Jeff Partin (bass). “All our adult lives, we’ve played with other bands,” says James. “But when this group of musicians came together at Dee’s, it was something special.” The members of East Nash Grass all had careers playing with other artists. “Having our own band gives us ownership of the show. We can bring our own music and tell our jokes. It feels different to be in your own band. It’s a good feeling.”
The band collectively has many accolades. Cory won the 2014 IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year. Maddie is a third-generation fiddle player and the 2016 Grand Master Fiddle Champion, as well as the 2008 Junior Fiddle Champion. Since 2008, she has won fourteen state championship titles in Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, and Tennessee. Harry Clark was presented with the IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year in 2022, and Gaven Largent received the award in 2023.
East Nash Grass is rooted firmly in the traditional bluegrass style, but they also acknowledge that at its heart, bluegrass music has always been wild and spontaneous. “It fires on all cylinders or none at all.” James says that while he comes from East Tennessee, he grew up thinking old-time music was “screechy and scratchy.” It was only after he moved to Nashville that his perspective began to change. “I heard people our age playing it, and I loved it. There has been a resurgence in old-time music. I’ve enjoyed seeing how that shook out in our music.”
While each member has an instrument they play the most, all of them can play different instruments. And they do just that when they perform. They also all sing, so finding the right person to sing a particular song is natural for them.
Each member of East Nash Grass also writes, and James says that each is bringing their very best and most thoughtful songs to the table. “Instead of having an album with one or two really good songs, every song this band records is a good song.” The band has recorded two albums, with a third in the works.
The band was in the process of putting their first album together when the pandemic hit. “We were really just letting the music happen, then we didn’t know how things would shake out,” James recalls. “We didn’t know if we’d ever tour again or if we would be able to promote our album.” But they forged ahead and recorded their self-titled debut album in 2021. They followed that with Last Chance to Win on the Mountain Home label in August 2023. James says they will release a few songs from their upcoming album this fall.
To get an idea of the high-energy East Nash Grass offers, check out the videos on their YouTube channel. Viewers can experience their skill as an ensemble in their video “Railroadin’ and Gamblin’.” A totally different kind of video, “Starlet Iris,” features a fully animated video. “Harry wrote that song, and it’s one of my favorites,” says James. “We wanted to do something different, and we had friends in Nashville who did animation. We like to think of stuff that’s off the beaten path, and I think both the song and the video accomplished that.”
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