The fast-rising Michigan trio releases its new CD on Thursday, the same day it plays Grand Rapids and a day before heading to Milwaukee to perform at the granddaddy of Irish festivals.
Bringing Their A-Game: The Moxie Strings play Grand Rapids Thursday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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As fiddler Diana Ladio puts it, The Moxie Strings have “come a long way” in the short time since the popular Michigan string band released its last album in 2012.
The classically trained trio of Ladio, cellist Alison Lynn and percussionist Fritz McGirr made a conscious decision to move beyond the Celtic realm that’s driven their music for years and made it one of the state’s busiest bands, especially around St. Patrick’s Day.
The last time The Moxie Strings played GRAM on the Green the trio drew a huge crowd. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
For the past couple of years, the trio explored bluegrass, Americana, world music, folk and rock as part of its high-energy, knee-slapping performances, an approach well-represented on its new studio album, “Running in Squares,” being released on Thursday. That’s the same day that The Moxie Strings returns to Grand Rapids to play the final GRAM on the Green concert of the season outside the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
“The initial concept behind the album was to capture the energy and versatility of our live show, but as we were recording, the album began to take on a rock-influenced edge that all of us are really excited about,” says Ladio, who lives in Kalamazoo.
“ ‘Running in Squares’ really represents Moxie’s inability to do anything traditionally. Just when you think a track will stay within the parameters of a traditional fiddle tune, we’ll add a musical ingredient or take it in a direction that will push genre boundaries and keep listeners guessing.”
BOUNDARY-PUSHING WITH A CLASSICAL AND CELTIC TWIST
That boundary-pushing comes in the form of the virtuoso musicians’ own songs: The band now plays mostly original material, weaving in traditional tunes as needed.
“The show has certainly taken more of an Americana twist as most of the tunes we play are written by us,” says Lynn, who earned a degree in cello performance from Western Michigan University and now makes her home in Ann Arbor. Ladio and McGirr both earned music degrees from the University of Michigan.
Their classical training, a love for traditional Celtic music and their growing interest in rootsy Americana helps The Moxie Strings stand out in the folky, acoustic music revival that’s swept the country, led by groups such as the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons.
“Running in Squares,” The Moxie Strings
It also helped them land performances for the first time at the prestigious Milwaukee Irish Fest this weekend.
“This is probably our biggest opportunity to date,” Ladio says. “We’re thrilled, excited and a little nervous. The festival is so big, and we’ll have the opportunity to meet so many other great bands…the whole experience will be a little overwhelming. We can’t wait. We’ve spent the last few weeks re-vamping tunes, adding some new sets, and making sure that we’re bringing our A-game.”
The festival performances come a day after official release of “Running in Squares,” giving the band an ideal opportunity to promote the new album to a new audience.
And Grand Rapids fans will get the first crack at that new recording: The Moxie Strings perform at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on the plaza in front of the Grand Rapids Art Museum (across from Rosa Parks Circle) in downtown Grand Rapids. Admission is free.
Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
