Adventurous Bluegrass/Americana quartet Hickory Robot celebrates its new self-titled album this weekend with a pair of release parties. On Friday (March 15), the band performs at Fretboard Brewing Company (5800 Creek Road, Blue Ash, fretboardbrewing.com) at 8 p.m. The group then performs on Saturday (March 16) at Plain Folk Café (10177 State Route 132, Pleasant Plain, plainfolkcafe.com) at 7:30 p.m. Both shows are free.
Hickory Robot — featuring Scott Carnder (mandolin/vocals), Lauren Schloemer (fiddle/vocals), Jim Pelz (guitar and vocals) and newest member Aaron Jacobs (bass) — formed just over a decade ago, releasing its debut album, Firefly, in 2010 and its follow-up, Sawyer, in 2012. The new eponymous album is the first featuring Jacobs, who joined in 2015 after the group experimented with lineup/instrumentation changes before returning to its mandolin/bass/fiddle/guitar roots.
Likewise, Hickory Robot carries forward the sound the group honed on its first two albums, crafting a deft mélange of stylistic approaches rooted in traditional American Roots music atop a strong songwriting base. The band elegantly walks the line between sturdy fundamentals (compositionally and instrumentally) and a more progressive nature that untethers the musicians from any strict rules or boundaries.
The new album opens with the rumbling Bluegrass rave-up “Barn Burnin’ Down,” which, to the uninitiated, sets certain expectations. But Hickory Robot shifts gears consistently throughout the album’s 15 tracks, borrowing from a variety of genres and rotating lead vocalists (with the others layering pitch-perfect harmonies). The clever fusion is evident within the songs, rather than on a track-by-track basis (like, “This is our Country tune,” “Here’s a rocker,” etc.).
On an album highlight like “John,” for example, the foursome struts on a bluesy groove that gives way to harmony-laden Folk Pop choruses and breakdowns that have a sprinkling of Celtic flavoring (a common ingredient that also pops up in the endearing instrumental “Molly and Mabel”). The blending is always graceful — there’s no risk of whiplash from sudden shifts, which can be the case with some Newgrass or jammier Roots acts. Hickory Robot’s variety is more subtle and ingrained, dependent more on technique and versatility than whirlwind flashiness or musical diversity for diversity’s sake.
Other highlights on the album are relatively straightforward and stand out purely on the strength of the writing. Wonderfully sung by Schloemer, “Change” and “You” are both sky-high, heart-swelling ballads that bring to mind genius troubadours like Emmylou Harris or Neil Young.
Hickory Robot works on multiple levels, exuding a contemporary verve that will hook in younger fans who may have only discovered Americana music in the past few years, but also building everything off of a flawless foundation for which even the most stubborn purist has to give it up.
For more on Hickory Robot, visit hickoryrobot.com. Listen to the album opener below.
This article appears in Mar 6-13, 2019.