Arden, North Carolina (March 20, 2020) — Asheville, North Carolina-based band Fireside Collective is continuing to make a unique artistic statement through a diverse approach on their Mountain Home Music Company debut album Elements, now available on all streaming platforms.
Fireside Collective’s ability to stylishly blur the lines of traditional roots genres has already gained the quintet a fervent fanbase and the attention of their peers. On Elements, the band blends the characteristic interplay of bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies with strong original material and exuberant energy, creating music that is part bluegrass and part roots rock with a dose of funk-influenced danceable rhythms.
Fireside Collective members Joe Cicero (guitar); Alex Genova (banjo); Jesse Iaquinto (mandolin); Tommy Maher (resonator guitar) and Carson White (upright bass) each bring a strong, original voice to his instrument, and the unique contributions of different lead and harmony vocalists complement the variety in the group’s songwriting.
Produced by Travis Book of the Infamous Stringdusters, Elements is distinctive, continuing to use a wide influence of sounds to create a body of work that belongs to Fireside Collective alone.
The album is preceded by two singles, “She Was An Angel” — premiered by The Bluegrass Situation — and “Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me,” which gained ground for the band with national radio airplay and critical acclaim.
Brian Carroll of Red Line Roots noted, “Fireside Collective’s ‘Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me’ is bluegrassy twang with a soulful groove. The dobro lines running wild, the rhythm and chop keeping perfect time. There is such a vibe to this tune. It’s the expert blend of tradition with modern pizzaz that is impossible to not jive with and groove to. I may have found one of my favorite new-to-me bands here. Dig it folks. Dig it deep.”
The groovy “Winding Road” and the funky “Bring It On Home” show what can be done with bluegrass instrumentation outside the genre’s conventions, while songs like “Waiting For Tennessee” and “High Time” capture the band’s ability to bring their live energy to recording.
“Circles” and “Done Deal” bring an introspective restlessness, accentuated by the former’s musical pointillism and the latter’s insistent, loping rhythm and regretful lyrics, and the instrumental, “Night Sky From Here,” shows off Fireside Collective’s mastery of moods with an ever-moving spotlight on each member in “breakdown” passages that alternate with driving bluegrass rhythms.
Elements announces the arrival of a band that has found its place in the contemporary era of roots music by both reflecting and shaping new sounds of the genre. Listen to it HERE.
About Fireside Collective
A quintet who cheerfully disregard every kind of one-dimensional label that might be attached to their music, Fireside Collective has been on a roll since emerging five years ago from the fertile roots music scene of Asheville, North Carolina. In quick order, the progressive bluegrass group released its debut, won the 2016 Band Contest at MerleFest, earned an International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Band of the Year nomination and embarked on an ambitious touring schedule that’s earned an enthusiastic reception from traditional bluegrass to wide-ranging, eclectic music festival audiences alike.
Blending the characteristic interplay of bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies with strong original material and exuberant energy, Fireside Collective has drawn on folk, blues, funk and a wide variety of bluegrass sounds to create a distinctive body of work that’s all their own.
Each member—Joe Cicero (guitar); Alex Genova (banjo); Jesse Iaquinto (mandolin); Tommy Maher (resonator guitar) and Carson White (upright bass)—brings a strong, original voice to his instrument, and the unique contributions of different lead and harmony vocalists complement the variety in the group’s many original songs.
“Depending on where you come from and your experience with folk music, you may think we’re very traditional, or on the other hand, consider us a progressive act,” says Iaquinto. “We appreciate both ends of the spectrum and may lie on a different end on any given night.” But whether they’re bringing the classic sound of bluegrass or exploring new musical territory, Fireside Collective delivers a fresh, energetic approach and a blast of enthusiastic creativity that’s electrifying audiences across the country.