Neograss: Not many bands heavily utilizing banjo in the prog rock realm!

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Neogress is when mellotrons meets bluegrass instruments. The new sound of acoustic prog from Norway and Talisman is the new album.Originally a classic bluegrass unit founded in 2006, but by combining 70´s progressive rock with traditional music they became illuminated and landed on the moon.

Neograss, the Neovision flagship landed in The Sea Of Tranquility August 2, 2010. And since then they have ran a tractor trailer full of beer over county lines in hot pursuit by a pesky sheriff and found the continent of Atlantis and other Lost Worlds. Then went back home to Norway in 2012 to study their roots, but was fiercely pulled down into the underworld, and after that is was all a dream.

If you imagine a band that wanted to play country/bluegrass covers and then suddenly changed into prog rock when started writing their own music, and if you think such an idea might be interesting, then I present you Neograss. And you’re right – it is an interesting concept indeed. There are not many bands heavily utilizing banjo in the prog rock realm. One might think of Bella Fleck And The Flecktones , but Neograss sounds nothing like them, since this Norwegian band is much more homorganic.

Neograss  are from Tromsø, formed in 2006 by Tore Morten Andreassen and Emil Bekkevold which were soon reinforced with Åsmund Wilter Eriksson and Aleksander Kostopoulos (bass and percussion respectively).

Emil Bekkevold sings and plays banjo. TMA is on guitars an mellotrons. They proved that symphonic/country mutant between Mellotron and banjo works more than fine. Not all of their music sounds like a symphonic prog rock + banjo, and such description won’t do them justice. The guys are not hiding their love for bluegrass and rock ‘n’ music. Some of their releases sound more accessible, poppy, even new wave-y. They’re also at ease with Krautrock and prog folk moments.

Tracklist:

1. Overture (5:06)

2. Daybreak (6:03)

3. Surrender (5:52)

4. Lost Search (3:42)

5. Warrior (1:56)

6. Travel (3:24)

7. Midnight (6:42)

8. It’s Loose (3:12)

9. A Night Piece (1:52)

10. Up You Go (2:28)

11. Visions (2:34)

12. Awake (4:12)

13. Passacaglia (3:07)

14. Me And You (4:21)

Total Time 54:31

Line-up:

Emil Bekkevold – Vocals, banjo, keyboards

Tore Morten Andreassen – Guitar, bass, Mellotron

Bjørn André Syverinsen – Drums

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