Bluegrass quartet blends best of old with new

Bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson is possessed -- possessed with one of the best self-taught bluegrass sounds on this side of the Tennessee River. Now, after breaking new ground with his ‘06 hit album “He Lives in Me,” Doyle Lawson and the Quicksilver band are coming to the Tennessee Theatre Saturday.

Lawson’s sound is nothing like Nickel Creek’s or Allison Krauss’; this down-home, mandolin-picker is the bloom of early, traditional East Tennessee bluegrass with solid southern gospel roots.

“Bluegrass ties to roots of tradition more so than most (types of music),” Lawson said. “Our kind of music has held on to that tradition. It has elements of blues, the improv of jazz and the heart of gospel—all roots of tradition.”

And his foot-tapping, leg-popping “He Lives in Me” is no exception. The biblical “battle” between good and evil is planted smack-dab into the middle of Appalachia, leaving behind the genre of mainstream country in a dusty trail of sound.

As a youngster, Lawson said he worshipped the sounds of the mandolin, banjo and fiddle, as well as a cappella gospel. His father sang in a gospel quartet—in fact, Doyle Lawson broke another bluegrass precedent with his own gospel quartet.

“I wanted to have a band that could play traditional bluegrass—the raw stuff—or contemporary or a cappella or gospel, just anything,” Lawson said. “I really did work to bring the quartet style bluegrass to the forefront.”

After showing an early interest, his father borrowed a mandolin from one of his fellow musicians, an instrument to which he dedicated his life.

“It was a struggle to learn on my own. People like Bill Monroe certainly never sat down to make a video in those days, nor did he write a book,” Lawson said. “But it just grabbed me and never turned me lose.”

Lawson said that when he was fourteen, legend Jimmy Martin took him under his wing and really helped improve his technique on the mandolin and other string instruments.

For the next decade, he meddled between Jimmy Martin’s band and J. D. Crowe’s in Lexington, Ky., wood shedding his skills and improving his bluegrass style. Having tired of hearing and playing other people’s sounds, he set out to find his own, and thus, bore the Quicksilver band.

Now, 28 years later, Lawson and his band have received the Heritage Fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Bluegrass Music Associations’ Vocal Group of the Year award six years in a row, two International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Songs of the Year and five gospel Recorded Performances of the Year from the IBMA.

“Just to be honored beside people like Bill Monroe and Doc Watson is pretty amazing. I accept it with humility, honor and gratitude, and I’m honored that they’d look at my career as vital and important to the traditional arts,” Lawson said.

But he stressed that the music, not the award, is most important.

“’Best’ is a hard word to define. I’m more inclined to go with ‘the people’s choice at that time,’” he said.

As far as the concert is concerned, the line-up for this Saturday is set to have both local bands, Robinella with her CCStringband and Blue Moon Rising, opening for Lawson.

Robinella said she is looking forward to the concert.

“I’m very excited to open for Doyle Lawson,” she said. “We opened up for him once before up in Roanoke. I think it’ll be a pretty good match, us, Blue Moon Rising and Doyle.”

Robinella’s husband, Cruz Contreras, also expressed his excitement. As UT alumni, they created the ’97 local bluegrass group, String Beans.

“Personally, I’ve always been a fan of bluegrass,” Contreras said. “And somehow we get voted best bluegrass band every year. I don’t know how it happens, and I hope bluegrass bands around here don’t hate us for it.”

Lawson himself expressed great respect for both opening groups.

“It’s going to be a blast. Robinella is powerful around the area, and Blue Moon Rising is a good band with good music too,” he said.

The concert is set to start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tennessee Theatre. Tickets are $26.50.