The Greencards July 30, 2009

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS WE DO ALL YEAR.

The Greencards are determined to make history, not just repeat it.

They're off to a good start. Though they're steeped in the tradition of bluegrass, The Greencards weave influences as disparate as Bob Dylan, Newgrass Revival and Patty Griffin into a compelling sound that starts in Bluegrass, but moves far beyond it. They honor the past, but refuse to live in it. That's why they continue to push at the boundaries while developing their own style of music.

Their willingness to color outside the lines has earned the band accolades from critics and fans alike. In their relatively short existence, they formed at the beginning of 2003, The Greencards have hauled in a Best New Band award at the 2004 Austin Music Awards and been nominated for Best New Emerging Talent at the 2004 Americana Music Awards. The Houston Chronicle praised their performance as one of The Top 5 Houston concerts of 2004, ranking them with luminaries such as George Jones, David Bowie and Simon & Garfunkel. They were also selected to open all 30 dates of Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson's 2005 Summer tour.

The Greencards rapid rise to the top of the acoustic scene has been as natural and organic as the music they make. It all began in Austin, Texas, when Kym Warner (mandolin) and Carol Young (bass) met Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle) in a recording studio to work on a project for another artist. The connection was immediate and based on a shared love of traditional acoustic music. The trio decided to work together after jamming around and realizing they knew an inordinately large number of songs. They joined forces to try to crack the Austin music scene and landed a regular Sunday gig playing three-hour sets of bluegrass and country cover tunes.

"You have to start with something," says Warner. "We knew all these songs and wanted to play out so that's what we did. Part of the reason we all moved to the States was because we didn't have very many opportunities to play this kind of music in Australia and England."

Ah yes, that's the ironic part of the story—one of the hottest bands in America, making distinctly American music, is comprised of two Australians (Warner and Young) and a Brit (McLoughlin).

Official Website: http://www.ticketbiscuit.com/rhythm-brews/EventListPage.aspx