CD REVIEW: Head for the Hills climbing bluegrass mountain

By Diana Nollen

It seems like I've listened to a lot of bluegrass lately, and while it's been good, I've heard a lot of sameness in the sound.

Until I heard Head for the Hills.

This Colorado bluegrass band sounds hip, fresh and new, while retaining elements firmly rooted in the hills on the other side of the country.

    The four bandmates play the traditional acoustic instruments of guitar, fiddle, bass and mandolin; take traditional turns in the solo improv spotlight; and sing traditional, tight four-part harmony.

But they kick it up a notch by adding contemporary and funk grooves, with occasional wild spins in a freewheeling gypsy realm.

The self-titled second CD begins in a most traditional way, with tight a cappella vocal harmonies on “One Foot in the Grave.” Far from funereal, fiddle, mandolin and more soon join in, with a highlight of fancy fingerwork on guitar.

The next cut boasts my favorite title, “Solar Bowling Shoes,” making tracks with Charlie Daniels-style frenetic fiddling and otherwise stellar instrumentals.

Fingerpicking really is the hallmark of this young band's sound, most evident on “Time to Spare.”

“Nooks and Crannies” is the most genre-bending, with a contemporary, haunting syncopation that drives the sound to an Eastern European frenzy before settling into a trippy jamgrass style. That technique reappears later on “Chupchik.”

The many moods of the Hills also include “Cold Walls,” a sad, sad story-song about an innocent man wrongfully accused of murder; the funky upbeat of “My Angelia,” fueled by sparkling banjo picking and chord progressions; and the gospel flavor of “If 'n When.”

The fun wraps up with “Unchain My Heart” like you've never heard it before. Forget the blues. Bluegrass is in the house.

Catch this band in action at 9 p.m. Saturday (3/20/10) at the Iowa City Yacht Club.

FAST TAKEInformation: www.iowacityyachtclub.org/calendar.html and www.headforthehillsmusic.com/index2.php

Title: “Head for the Hills”

Artist: Head for the Hills

Label: Self-released

Performance: 9 p.m. Saturday, March 20, 2010, Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St.; with opening bands Filling Space and Songbird Bethann

Admission: $7

Extra: Pizza with the Band, with music by Head for the Hills from 7 to 7:30 p.m., Pizza on Dubuque, 5 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City; meet the band, chance to win tickets to the show