For those unfamiliar with the Red Clay Music Foundry in Downtown Duluth, this intimate venue frequently hosts an array of live music. This includes a recent performance by Tony Trischka, a well-known American musician revered by many in the industry for his banjo skills in the bluegrass genre. The DiG checked out his Gwinnett performance called Earl Jam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs for a concert review!
Walking into the venue, it felt like the perfect atmosphere to listen to bluegrass music because of how laid-back and intimate it was. There was a bar area where fellow patrons were grabbing a beer and some small snacks to head over to the main auditorium. With the main stage practically in front of you, the smaller auditorium allowed the audience to feel even more connected to Trischka and his band.
Since I’d never heard live bluegrass music, I didn’t know what to expect. Trischka came onto the stage where he introduced the other players joining him, including Mike Bub on the bass, Casey Driessen on the fiddle and Woody Platt for the vocals. From there the songs came pouring out. Trischka has this incredible storytelling ability where he would say the name of a song, crack a few jokes with his players and the audience and then speak on a specific technique of playing found in the song before they played it. This helped add context to the performance, especially for someone like me.
Towards the beginning of the performance, Trischka shares how Earl Jam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs came about. During the peak of lockdown, he received a thumb drive from a mutual friend full of rare recordings from Earl Scruggs and John Hartford during the 80s and 90s. After combing through this drive and recreating the new tones, songs, and playing techniques with his friends, he created the tribute album Earl Jam which will be released June 9.
Each song that was performed was full of this energy that was captivating and exciting. You could tell the pure love of music and the genre that Trischka and the other players have. Next time you’re in downtown Duluth, stop by the Red Clay Music Foundry and take a chance on a genre of music you haven’t heard before (trust us, you won’t regret it).