Bearfoot is a band that have made their bones the old fashioned way. They have spent the past ten years touring, winning over and being feted by festivals, and working out the kinks in their band line up. The center of the band had always been centered around Alaska natives Angela Oudean and Jason Norris, with Oudean playing fiddle and Norris Mandolin and Viola. Fellow Alaskan Todd Grebe joined the band, bringing along a dose of his honky tonk sound. They also recruited celebrated singer-songwriter Nora Jane Struthers from The Bootleggers and her bassist PJ George. This has made Bearfoot something of an up and coming super band. The resulting album, American Story, is a scrumptious blend of traditional bluegrass, western swing and Nashville country. It is an album of gorgeous songs from a band that knows the way to build an audience is to simply make the music and wait for them to come.

“Tell me a story of days gone by, I want to leave this life of mine,” Struthers sings on the opening track, “Tell Me a Story.” It sets the tone for the album, collection of sweet, pretty songs coupled with strong vocals and amazingly strong players. “Feel Free” echoes some of The Dixie Chick's early work with its mellow tempo and message of personal discovery. Like Marty McGuire before, Oudean plays her fiddle in perfect counterpoint to Struther's voice. “Midnight in Montana” finds the band simultaneously more Bluegrass and more Texas Swing. Todd Grebe takes the lead vocals on his own track, sounding not unlike a member of Asleep at the Wheel as he sings “my uncle sat me down last night and gave me some damned good advice.” “The Dust” is a Steinbeck-like ballad about unsuccessful farmers and the dust bowl that drove them apart. “When they married she was all pride, felt like a queen with him at her side, but Oklahoma took her down to size,” Struthers mourned. “Come Get Your Lonesome” is the sort of late night party song that has been missing from Nashville as of late. Missing are barely legal hotties and the frat guys who like to watch them dance. In their place are honky tonk queens trying to drink and flirt away a broken heart. “We know the rules, cause we broke a few, and its the only way of doing what we do,” Struthers sings, the perfect embodiment of the angels God didn't make. “When You're Away” is a teasing, sultry love song, highlighted by some cute interplay between Oudean's fiddle and Norris' Mandolin. Conversely, the band uses the mandolin and fiddle to create tension on “Eyes Cast Down,” a song entreating a friend to leave an abusive relationship. Struther's voice finds new levels of haunting, mournful murmurs as she sings “my faded cotton calico too thin against the cold, patched up in the places he has torn.” “Kill The Rooster” is a delightful song that finds the protagonist hunting down anyone or anything that wrecks her sleep of kills her joy. “Billy” is an a Capella ballad sung in five part harmony, a lush and wonderful ballad about a woman refusing marriage. The album closes with “Mr. Moonshine,” another uptempo bluegrass/swing fusion. Todd Grebe once again takes the lead as the rest of the band chime in with perfect four part harmony behind him.

This has been a strong year for Bluegrass, with new releases by everyone from Allison Krauss and Jim Lauderdale to Sarah Jarosz and Sierra Hull. This is a mixed blessing for a band like Bearfoot. On the one hand, this signals a openness to bluegrass that might result in them getting some Americana and Indie airplay that might otherwise pass them by. On the other hand it creates a might big ocean in which they have to swim. New fans who might otherwise be willing to sample their music may find their dance cards already full of Bluegrass. This would be unfortunate, because Bearfoot is a remarkably talented band with their own style and sound. A fusion of Old School bluegrass and New School Nashville with a side of Western, American Story is the story of American Music, as it is now.

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