After adversity, SteelStacks-bound Steep Canyon Rangers find renewed energy for tour, disc

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Last year's devastating flooding in top bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers' hometown may have been symbolic of the tumult the band has faced recently.

But just as Asheville, North Carolina, has recovered from the effects of Hurricane Helene, Steep Canyon Rangers, too, has weathered the storm.

The Grammy Award-winning group not only has replaced two of its six original members who left — including founding vocalist and songwriter Woody Platt — but is reaping critical praise for its first solo live album, "Live at Greenfield Lake."

And it's on a new tour that at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22, stops at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Tickets, at $39 and $49, remain available at the SteelStacks websiteand its box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.

It also has another tour with comedian/banjo player Steve Martin scheduled this fall, and is working on another album with its new lineup, lead vocalist and banjo player Graham Sharp said in a recent call from his Asheville home.

Asked in the call about the hurricane flooding damage, Sharp said, “It was rough here for a while, but it’s rebuilding."

"And everything is … the town is back opened up and lots of visitors and tourists, which we love and the town really needs, you know, ‘cause a lot of the businesses are built around that.

“I think there’s definitely pockets where it’s still struggling, just ‘cause some places along the water got beat up so bad they probably won’t be built back.

"But a lot of places are back and it’s been a struggle and a lot of folks are still struggling, but in general the community’s doing well.”

'We're comfortable evolving'

While certainly not having faced the life-and-death crisis Asheville did, Steep Canyon Rangers also is back, Sharp said.

The changes started in 2017, when bass player Charles Humphrey III left to "pursue other musical and non-musical passions." Barrett Smith replaced him in 2018.

But it was a more significant shift when Platt announced his departure in 2022 to spend more time with family.

“Originally there was a lot of uncertainty," Sharp said. "We were coming out of the [coronavirus] pandemic and the lockdown anyway, so everything was already kind of weird.

"So maybe it sort of lessened the strangeness of changing the lineup. Everything already was in question and not normal."

But Sharp noted that the band in 2018 replaced Platt with guitarist/vocalist Aaron Burdett, who was "a chart-topping songwriter in his own right, and singer."

"So he already had his own strong identity and it has meshed really well with the band," Sharp said. “And we leaned on him a lot for that.

"I was the primary songwriter for years and years and years and it’s been nice to have someone else come in, and I think it’s important to have another perspective or another voice on the songwriting. I think that’s been really good for us.”

Additionally, Sharp said, "I think we’re comfortable evolving."

"I think that’s kind of our default status, is we’re always looking forward to changing things up," he said. "And sometimes changing things up means stepping backward."

Taking a new approach

Leading up to Platt's departure, Steep Canyon Rangers had produced seven albums over seven years that all hit No. 1 on the Bluegrass chart.

For the group's first album with the new lineup, 2023's "Morning Shift," they traveled to a home in tiny Bat Cave, North Carolina, where they created a makeshift studio.

“That venue was not set up as a recording studio at all," Sharp said. "It was just a real house and we set it up as a studio with all of us there. Really, a great room just crowded around some microphones.

“We were just looking for something that was maybe not a traditional studio experience — something that could maybe feel kind of like more of a retreat sort of thing.

"Some place where we could all kind of stay for a few nights on end and really settle into the environment. Just kind of stay in the process rather than leaving to go to restaurants or go stay in a hotel or go stay at a house or whatever.

“It just felt like a good way to kind of stay immersed in the process of recording."

With a new vocalist, it also seemed "like a good opportunity to establish the different voices" of the new lineup, Sharp said.

"Sort of give each singer their own character, kind of in the way you hear, like, [iconic Americana group] The Band," he said. "And their songs, each singer really has their own sort of character to it, you know?

“And so that just seemed like a batch of songs that had a lot of sort of story-based songs and it felt just like a good opportunity to kind of establish a narrative with the different voices in the band as much as anything.”

A live album

Steep Canyon Rangers' most recent release is the new live album "Live at Greenfield Lake."

The only previous live album the group had released in its 17 album, 25-year career was with frequent collaborator Martin.

Martin is a virtuoso banjo player who has used Steep Canyon Rangers as his backing band. Sharp mentioned they've played shows with him at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.

They've also recorded three albums with him, including 2014's "Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell LIVE."

“We had talked about doing a live record for a while, but with this sort of shuffled lineup, it felt like we had to reintroduce ourselves to folks and the live show was the best way to do that," Sharp said.

He said the band didn't plan to release a recording of a single show — it instead was "going to do, like, a compilation."

"But once we had the stuff recorded, we just went back and tried listening, and we were, like, ‘Oh, man, it worked really well just to put out one show.’

“It sort of covers much of what our show generally is — a lot of upbeat stuff, but also some stuff that's sort of down and sort of gets a little more emotional and what not.

“So yeah, it just felt like it was the right time and that was the right show.

“There are songs that I expected when we were going to put out a live record that we’d definitely have a version of that on the live record.' But we didn’t happen to play it that night, so it wasn’t on the record. It’s fine.”

New disc, tour with Steve Martin

That creative energy has continued, Sharp said.

“We’re just finishing up a studio album that is a lot more bluegrassy than anything we’ve done in a long time," he said.

"And it wasn’t a fully conscious decision, it’s just, like, this is the batch of songs that we’re working on now. In fact, we’re mixing it — we’re working on it this week and we’ve been playing a lot of these songs live."

He said the disc is "a collection of about 15 songs that we’ve been working on for the last year — just sort of writing it and putting it together, figuring out what we want this record to look like.

“It’s been really fun. I think a lot of the songs for this project really are translating well to the stage. It’s maybe a little more upbeat than the songs on ‘Morning Shift.’ So they’ve proven to be really good songs in the show so far.

“And a big part of that with Aaron coming on board is it also sort of freed up other people in the band to do a little bit more. So we also have our bass player, Barrett, now is freed up to sing a lot more, and he’s doing a lot of the lead.

"We roughly split it in thirds; each of us puts our own dynamic. The vocal point is always changing — just typing to move through the show by highlighting people, whether it's instrumentally or vocally.”

Sharp said the group was with Martin recently to have him contribute to the album.

The group will have a 15-show tour with him and fellow comedian Martin Short this fall.

“He’s still that guy — unbelievably dedicated," Sharp said. "He’s just non-stop.”