Friday, August 30, 2024
mightypoplar.com

We are thrilled to be bringing Mighty Poplar- an outstanding all-star roots project featuring Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, Leftover Salmon bassist Greg Garrison and fiddler Alex Hargreaves of Billy Strings fame- to the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival stage.

Regarded as some of the finest players of their generation, the playing is never showy and always in service of the song. Though Pikelny, Eldridge, Garrison all knew each other from their early work with Punch Brothers, impromptu backstage jams with Marlin at festivals across the country were the key that unlocked the project that became a 2024 Grammy nominated album.

A lifelong song collector, Marlin selected and sang lead on most of the songs here, bringing classics as well as deep cuts from greats like Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, John Hartford, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Norman Blake.

Throughout, the songs and tunes are as immediate and emotionally impactful as the playing is tasteful.

Gathered knee-to-knee in a rural studio outside Nashville, the collaborative 10-track album emerged organically over a few days. “It felt so special and effortless; it didn’t take work,” says Eldridge, “other than the work and effort we’ve put in the rest of our lives.”

Mighty Poplar has captured the fierce and playful energy of an all-night jam between old friends who just happen to be grandmasters of the music and they will bring that to the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival stage on Friday, August 30.