Chicago-based bluegrass band to perform at George's majestic lounge this weekend
Brady Tackett
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Lifestyles
Bluegrass is strongly rooted in tradition, which can make it a very constrictive musical genre. Chicago-based band Cornmeal knows this better than most. During the past nine years, the group has fought to bend the old-time rules of the genre without breaking them.
"You'll always have the old-school believers who want their bluegrass just the way it always was," said J.P. Nowak, the group's drummer. "But," he said, "a transformation has been going on for years," even as far back as the 1970s.
"It's taking this folk music and putting your own stamp on it," he said. "With the new grass revival movement of the 1980s, people like Béla Fleck and Sam Bush added a lot of jazz and funk to it."
Cornmeal - also comprised of Kris Nowak on guitar and vocals; Chris Gangi on upright bass; Dave Burlingame on banjo and vocals; and Allie Kral on fiddle and vocals - is a fusion band in the way that those artists were. Nowak, wh joined the group in 2004, said that it's been easier to explore different sounds as the band members have grown to know each other musically.
"Nothing's strict with us," Nowak said. "We borrow from other kinds of music (especially reggae, disco and rock) and try to find a window where it all clicks together."
Cornmeal's live show is a conglomeration of these styles and as with most bluegrass outfits, improvisation is the bridge that connects them all.
"The crowd is a huge influence on how we play," he said. "We're very sensitive to that. If the crowd is looking bored, we'll change our whole set list to get them excited."
Diehard fans of the group know that Cornmeal hasn't released an album since 2006's Feet First, but they should also know the huge amount of songs that the group has been storing up.
"We've got a huge pool of unrecorded material to mine from the last three years," Nowak said. "The new record will be a synthesis of that material and newer songs, "because we also want to have fresh material for our fans."
Even though these songs have been gestating for years, Nowak said that the studio still transforms the songs significantly.
"The studio is a laboratory," he said. "We do a lot of preproduction in the studio, like setting tempos and song lengths. There's still room for creativity, but it's a little stricter than the live setting."
But Cornmeal isn't letting live favorites go to waste either. Fans should keep their ears open for a new live album that Nowak said should be released soon.
Until then, fans can catch Cornmeal at 7 p.m. tomorrow at George's Majestic Lounge.
"You'll always have the old-school believers who want their bluegrass just the way it always was," said J.P. Nowak, the group's drummer. "But," he said, "a transformation has been going on for years," even as far back as the 1970s.
"It's taking this folk music and putting your own stamp on it," he said. "With the new grass revival movement of the 1980s, people like Béla Fleck and Sam Bush added a lot of jazz and funk to it."
Cornmeal - also comprised of Kris Nowak on guitar and vocals; Chris Gangi on upright bass; Dave Burlingame on banjo and vocals; and Allie Kral on fiddle and vocals - is a fusion band in the way that those artists were. Nowak, wh joined the group in 2004, said that it's been easier to explore different sounds as the band members have grown to know each other musically.
"Nothing's strict with us," Nowak said. "We borrow from other kinds of music (especially reggae, disco and rock) and try to find a window where it all clicks together."
Cornmeal's live show is a conglomeration of these styles and as with most bluegrass outfits, improvisation is the bridge that connects them all.
"The crowd is a huge influence on how we play," he said. "We're very sensitive to that. If the crowd is looking bored, we'll change our whole set list to get them excited."
Diehard fans of the group know that Cornmeal hasn't released an album since 2006's Feet First, but they should also know the huge amount of songs that the group has been storing up.
"We've got a huge pool of unrecorded material to mine from the last three years," Nowak said. "The new record will be a synthesis of that material and newer songs, "because we also want to have fresh material for our fans."
Even though these songs have been gestating for years, Nowak said that the studio still transforms the songs significantly.
"The studio is a laboratory," he said. "We do a lot of preproduction in the studio, like setting tempos and song lengths. There's still room for creativity, but it's a little stricter than the live setting."
But Cornmeal isn't letting live favorites go to waste either. Fans should keep their ears open for a new live album that Nowak said should be released soon.
Until then, fans can catch Cornmeal at 7 p.m. tomorrow at George's Majestic Lounge.
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