This is the happiest I’ve ever been with our sound.
Folks, please check this out. Share with your friends.
I’m so immensely proud to play this music with this band.
Gangstagrass PNW Tour – September 2017
Pacific Northwest, be hereby warned!
WA/OR/CA, 9/1-9/11
September 1
Engine Driver Presents: Gangstagrass w/ The Railsplitters
Fri 9 PM PDT
Tractor Tavern
Seattle, WA
September 2
GANGSTAGRASS with The Railsplitters and Speaker Minds
Sat 9 PM PDT
Dante’s
Portland, OR
September 3
Evening Coffee with Gangstagrass at New Morning Bakery
Sun 6 PM PDT
New Morning Bakery
Corvallis, OR
September 5
Gangstagrass at Harlow’s Restaurant and Nightclub
Tue 9 PM PDT
Harlows Restaurant & Night Club
Sacramento, CA
September 6
Gangstagrass at Cornerstone, Berkeley
Wed 8 PM PDT
Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music
Berkeley, CA
September 7
Gangstagrass at the Sound Lounge ($10)
Thu 9:30 PM PDT
The Sound Lounge
Grants Pass, OR
September 8
Gangstagrass at Sisters Music Festival!
Sep 8 – Sep 10
NPR’s First Watch: Gangstagrass’s “Banks of the Ohio”
Check out this great write-up from NPR’s Ann Powers and, while you’re there, watch the debut of our newest video.
This “Banks of the Ohio” is sung in a soulful guest turn by Alexa Dirks of the Canadian band Chic Gamine. With a woman as its murderous protagonist, “Banks of the Ohio” feels personal again — not just another incident of victimizing misogyny, but a desperate account of possessive desire.
Look out! Gangstagrass is going to outer space!
Amazon has our CD now!
And it’s Prime-friendly! Have it by Tuesday if you want.
Once you have your album, write your review! Looking for inspiration? Check out the excerpt from a fan review below!
American Music
5 out of 5 stars: Gangstagrass is on FIRE, May 4, 2015
By Em K.… A personal favorite of mine is this fresh take on “John Henry.” The song begins with a powerful, mechanical drum beat evocative of the tireless steam drill. In contrast, the lively banjo and other bluegrass instruments enter soon after, introducing the urgency of this traditional machine vs. man challenge. Soul Khan humanizes and contextualizes this larger-than-life folk hero with his quick, witty rap. Meanwhile, Dan Whitener brings his powerful, resonant voice to the traditional side of this tune….
The Future is Here
ESPN’s May Music is American Music
Gangstagrass and Bluegrass Tunes (and a New Review)
I would suggest that you read Ria Greiff’s recent review for Now It’s Dark mag even if it wasn’t about Gangstagrass: It’s that well written. One part that I particularly loved was her description of the opening mini-set where the bluegrass musicians of Gangstagrass (myself included) perform some more traditional tunes:
One-half of the gang appeared on the stage — the grass section, performing a soulful tune, evocative of the Appalachian hardships many endured. Indeed, this genre was born out of traditional songs conjured by individuals and their struggles — their blues. Like so many other disenfranchised populations, music carried them into the future, inspiring them toward positive and forward thinking.
Photo by Scott Allan Greiff
When you think about combining bluegrass and hip-hop, you imagine that there are going to be two challenges: Introducing bluegrass to the hip-hop world, and introducing hip-hop to the bluegrass world. You might imagine that those two are going to be roughly equal challenges, but overall we (as Gangstagrass) do tend to get more pushback from bluegrass “purists” than hip-hop “purists.”
That partially has to do with the way that hip-hop works–you can hear a hip-hop track incorporating any and every genre of music. You hear MCs rapping over classical tracks, you hear DJs sampling pop, rock & roll, world music (which is, of course, a really strong influence), so to expect hip-hop artists to reject bluegrass is more than a little disingenuous. More often, we have to contend with fans who feel like we got rap in their bluegrass. So part of starting off a show with some more traditional bluegrass/country western/honky-tonk songs is because we love the music and it’s good music. Part is because it’s one of our strong influences. But another great thing about starting a show that way (which we don’t always do) is that, for some people, it can lead you into Gangstagrass by way of more traditional bluegrass.
Rench is a big fan of classic country musicians like Hank Williams and George Jones, and he also writes some of his own original music (outside of Gangstagrass) in the styles of those performers. So we might start with something like “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” or “You Win Again.” He and I also found that we share a love for some of the brother duet songs from artists like the Louvin Brothers, so sometimes we’ll do “When I Stop Dreaming” or “Satan’s Jeweled Crown” and our new fiddler Melody Allegra Berger also knows a bunch of these songs and she might lead us with a fiddle tune or two at the beginning of a set.
But that’s not to say that we don’t also incorporate these songs into our regular Gangstagrass set list. Our dobro player Landry McMeans sings a great version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” It’s always such a hit at shows and we enjoy playing it so much that we ended up including it as a secret bonus track on our 2014 album, Broken Hearts and Stolen Money. We really enjoy combining bluegrass and hip-hop, and we hope it is clear that we combine bluegrass and hip-hop because we truly love both styles of music.
3rd week on Billboard: Back up at #5!
Guys, it’s so validating. Thanks to all our fans.
Write Your Amazon Review Today!
And check out this great review and others from Gangstafans!
American Music
5.0 out of 5 stars: Only Getting Better!, April 20, 2015
By Dean WinkelspechtWith their fourth album, Gangstagrass is only getting better. American Music is an amazing mix of Bluegrass and Hip Hop. It works. The album is upbeat and showcases the artists’ talents. The album starts off strong with Pulling Everything with Me and the remake of Long Hard Times to Come. Dan Whitener’s You Can Never Go Home Again is a very strong offering from the band’s banjo player. Ain’t Going to Heaven When I Die is a fun song featuring fourteen different MCs. Nuts. The band really is something you need to experience. Having just saw them recently live, they are a fun group of guys and gals and this is their best album to date. Looking forward to the next!