Genre bender
You’ve got to love those moments when a family of musicians storms the music scene, capturing everyone’s imagination. This isn’t one of those, though, but instead an instance where a bluegrass act bumbles into another genre. Thus it was that the Cleverlys—a five-man trio, as their leader Digger Cleverly described the group—burst onto the scene at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) jamboree back in 2010.
The results speak for themselves.
Moving, as I’m sure you can attest.
At another of their outings, they delve into their background a bit in the preamble.
For those who still haven’t given up and left, here’s a bit more from Digger’s alter ego, Paul Harris, from his stand-up routine:
Placido Domingo, everyone.
Baby shrews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QimBFhZU4CI
I think the genre bending is less of a surprise than we often think. There are many artists who sang both country and blues, or R&B, and many songs have been recorded in multiple genres. One of the most extreme examples that come to my mind is By The Time I Get to Phoenix, originally recorded by Glen Campbell and later, more originally recorded by Isaac Hayes. Hayes like the song and in his intro credited "one of the great young songwriters" of the day and I've always believed that Campbell must have been shocked, but pleased with Hayes' rendition. To sing my favorite refrain once more, we all have more in common than we don't.