The Light We Bring

Since a bunch of hippies first got together in 1974 and started the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Colorado had proved to be a fertile breeding ground for progressive-bluegrass bands, with a multitude of forward thinking-groups including Hot Rize, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Elephant Revival, and countless others emerging from the Rocky Mountains.  Trout Steak Revival’s win at the prestigious Telluride Band contest in 2014 announced their arrival and secured their standing in Colorado’s long musical legacy.  The release of The Light We Bring further cements that position and points to an even brighter future for the Denver-based band.

With The Light We Bring the band has taken complete charge, self-producing the album.  The end result serves to showcase the band’s growing confidence in their ever-evolving skills.  As with their previous albums the sincerity of their songwriting shines through and echoes the everyman qualities of Bruce Springsteen as Trout Steak Revival sings of feelings and emotions we can all relate to.  There is the loneliness of the road and the joy of coming home, in “Home,” the taking of chances in one’s life in “Arrows in the Dark,” or when they sing about the eternal question we have all wondered about, “How to Make Love Stay.”  Their songwriting reaches a peak on “The Heart Wants,” which just might be the best song you will hear all year.  Musically the album features the group’s almost telepathic interplay, with lines and melodies weaving together with a powerful, beautiful, poise that is reflective of a band who is known for their impassioned live shows.

In this year of doom and gloom there is a brightness that emanates from the appropriately titled, The Light We Bring, with its infectious, lilting harmonies, and jaunty rhythms that bound through the darkness of this crazy year.  The only thing better than listening to this album is to be able to see this music and band where they truly belong, live on stage, with other people.  Until then The Light We Bring is a perfect substitute.