The Grass Pack

Of all the terrors to chill the blood of a bluegrass band, being called “folk” ranks right up there with accordions and requests for “that O Brother, Where Art Thou? song.” And so the Grass Pack is only folk in the loosest though not emptiest sense of the word. Composed of wily veterans and energetic youths, and including five able singers, the combo is furthering the oral and aural traditions that bluegrass has always relied on. The sextet’s bluegrass is classic and hardcore, with tight and precise arrangements in the spirit of Jimmy Martin or Flatt and Scruggs, combining standard country workouts like “Sugarfoot Rag,” traditionals like “Red Wing” and soulful covers of more contemporary numbers like “No Expectations” (this last sung by fiddler Colleen Heine as if it were a Smoky Mountain blues from the pen of Dolly Parton rather than a decadent hunk of ore from the mine of Jagger and Richards). When the band bobs and weaves around a single microphone at a pub or festival, bluegrass and non-bluegrass folk alike know they’re hearing the real deal.
-Riverfront Times, September 25, 2008

Biography
The Grass Pack is a hard-driving bluegrass band from St. Louis, Missouri. With their roots planted in the tradition of rural American music, The Grass Pack’s brand of bluegrass harkens back to the music of the first generation of bluegrass, as defined by bands such as Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, and Jimmy Martin. Yet, with their driving rhythm and dynamics, tasteful licks, and ringing harmonies, The Grass Pack creates a full and fresh sound that appeals to even the most modern audiences. The Grass Pack is a group of six finely tuned instrumentalists and singers that love playing bluegrass… and it shows.

Members:
Nate Free (banjo, vocals)
Don Grahlherr (Dobro, vocals)
Colleen Heine (fiddle, vocals)
John Higgins (guitar, vocals)
Dave Mueller (mandolin, vocals)
Mike Tiefenbrun (bass)