Town Mountain: at The Station Inn (Nashville, TN) Fri. January 11, 2013

Town Mountain

Bluegrass

Nashville Scene Critic's Pick …

Heading into their eighth year with just a couple of personnel changes along the way — the most recent brings the multitalented Jon Stickley into the fold — North Carolina’s Town Mountain are proving themselves increasingly adept at navigating the career-endangering but musically rewarding territory between traditional and edgy bluegrass. Their latest album, last fall’s Leave the Bottle, advances beyond the already impressive mark set by its predecessor, largely on the strength of songwriting that toys subversively — but almost always wisely — with convention, unexpectedly elongating a phrase here and shortening a line there, or slyly paying homage to obscure old records by shifting time signatures, as they do on the title track. And while the singing tends to be on the rough rather than polished side of the spectrum, there’s plenty of old-school virtuosity in the instrumental department, and an abundance of good spirits to keep things moving along.

—JON WEISBERGER