Old Salt Union Brings Bluegrass to 30aSWF
If you’ve been paying attention to the music scene at large – bluegrass is now trendy. It’s a fact that hasn’t escaped Jesse Farrar of Old Salt Union with a dash of irony. “I kind of grew up on it – so it is really funny for me. My dad played bluegrasss growing up so it is funny that the music that people kind of shunned in high school – the stuff that I grew up listening to – is all of a sudden acceptable again.”
Old Salt Union will be making their return to 30a Songwriters Festival and the band is looking forward it – along with some (hopefully) warmer Florida weather.
Jesse often uses the word ‘organic’ to describe the band – and it seems very apt. From their genre designation of bluegrass to their plans of future growth, the band has a very go-with-the-flow attitude.
After all, they found their niche because, “we all played these instruments so when we all play together it seemed like the right thing to do.”
“It goes back to the organic-ness of everything – there are no rules,” explains Jesse of their songwriting process. “Inspiration kind of comes and goes and we grab onto what we can.” That means some songs will fall together after only a few minutes of an impromptu jam, and others require a certain amount of finesse. “Carry On’ off the new album was stretched out and stretched out. I think at one point we had it completely wrapped up, and then didn’t play it for four months and we completely forgot what we had done – so we had to rearrange it. I think it was completed over a nine month period or so.“
The band is currently hitting the road hard, with over 220 gigs played a year. And 2015 already is looking even bigger. “We are playing festivals this year that we didn’t have the opportunity to do last year. Eventually I think our goal is to get on tour with someone bigger than us, but we are taking things as they kind of are getting tossed at us.”
Instead of the band having a singular milestone in mind, Jesse believes that, “forward motion is always positive – so as long as we are moving forward then we are doing something right.”
One thing is for certain, if you have a chance to catch Old Salt Union at the 30a Songwriters Festival, “Whatever room they put us in – we are going to put on a good show.”
Learn more about the band at their official website.
Learn more about 30a Songwriters Festival.
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