Arden, North Carolina (February 25, 2022) — For their first single of 2022, Asheville, North Carolina’s Fireside Collective serve up a fiery number that proves once again the truth of award-winning banjo player and broadcaster Ned Luberecki’sobservation that “bluegrass is happy, upbeat music with miserable, depressing lyrics.” The release comes in the middle of a packed late-winter touring schedule that shows the fast-rising group has resumed the upward career trajectory interrupted right after the early 2020 release of their critically acclaimed Mountain Home Music Companydebut, Elements.
From its staccato opening chords to the closing unison lick, “Blue Is My Condition”— written by singer and resonator guitarist Tommy Maher with producer and award-winning songwriter Jon Weisberger — offers an unrelievedly bleak outlook, offset by a powerful harmony vocal from mandolinist Jesse Iaquinto and a dazzling sequence of virtuosic solos from both of the singers, along with banjo man Alex Genova and guitarist Joe Cicero. The result is quintessential bluegrass with a distinctly modern edge that’s likely to find favor with more traditionally-inclined listeners as well as fans drawn to the quintet’s mesmerizing live performances.
“We all get the blues and experience sadness, but it can be taboo to talk about, especially when most of what we see on social media are happy people with smiling faces,” Maher observes. “This song came to me at a dark time and is about embracing that darkness and not being ashamed of showing your pain to the world. It’s a sad song with no happy ending.”
Adds Weisberger, “The seriousness of the subject notwithstanding, ‘Blue Is My Condition’ was a fun song to write with Tommy — and a challenging one, too, with its brevity and intense rhyme scheme. We chose to underline its classic bluegrass nature with a lonesome duo harmony rather than a full trio, and the guys just crushed it in the studio!”
Listen to “Blue Is My Condition” 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 from the fertile roots music scene of Asheville, North Carolina. In quick order, the progressive bluegrass group released its debut album, 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.