Mighty Poplar

“I was sitting with my bluegrass ensemble I teach at CU Denver and we were listening to the Bluegrass Album Band,” says bassist Greg Garrison.  The Bluegrass Album Band was a 1980’s supergroup consisting of guitarist Tony Rice, banjo-picker J.D. Crowe, mandolinist Doyle Lawson, fiddler Bobby Hicks, and bassist Todd Philips.  The group was founded by Rice and Crowe in 1980 with the intention to record a solo album for Rice.  Recognizing the chemistry between the players and the unique spark emanating from the quintet’s playing, they instead decided to record a collaborative effort of bluegrass standards, resulting in the band’s 1981 debut, The Bluegrass Album.  They would follow this up with five more albums.  For Garrison, best known for his long tenure with jamgrass progenitors Leftover Salmon and his time as one of the original members of the Punch Brothers, they are simply one of the best groups from the eighties.  He says, “We were working