Bluegrass music dates back in the 1940s and was derived through various musical genres.
Given its jazz, folk and country elements, the genre has been beloved by people from across the globe. Due to its unique, offbeat rhythm, some musicians attempt to incorporate this musical style into songs from other genres. Several well-known groups brought this tradition to life.
Flatt & Scruggs were the pioneers of mixing other musical genres into bluegrass in the 1960s. Groups like The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene also followed and adapted to this idea by starting to record or perform bluegrass covers on live concerts as well. More bluegrass bands emerged in the 21st century, which became famous for this tradition.
As it turns out, this bluegrass band called Iron Horse has their own way of reinventing classic songs.
The Iron Horse is a bluegrass band that loves mixing and mashing from other genres.
The band consists of members Tony Robertson on mandolin, Vance Henry on guitar, Ricky Rogers on bass and Anthony Richardson on banjo.
The band became famous for recording bluegrass versions of rock and heavy metal songs like in their first tribute album where they covered Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Still, that’s not all—they had a bluegrass spin of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” which racked up 7.6 million views on YouTube.
The Elton John classic transcended to a whole new level of awesomeness.
As the video begins, a numbered countdown starts to play.
When the countdown reaches zero, the band kicks off with a slow, dramatic intro emphasizing the vocals while accompanied by a soft-strummed instrumental.
After a short pause, the band comes back to the harmonic sound of their stringed instruments.
Their stringed instruments were the very soul of bluegrass.
It was amazing how the band made each instrument sing and harmonize well with the others.
The flat-picking of the banjo and mandolin was also impressive. However, their vocal blends also added an aesthetic flavor that sounds so soothing to the ears.
As the song started nearing its end, the quartet showed off the impressive sounds of their stringed instruments once more.
The band breaks into another instrumental break starting in the last minute of the song, and it was nothing but sweet-sounding musical passages all the way t0 the end.
Once again, the band sang the chorus of the song and abruptly finishing it with a single-strummed chord. The only difference between Elton John’s song and Iron Horse’s was the way they delivered the song’s message.
The original “Rocket Man” by Elton John was melancholic, with a tinge of hopefulness in the chorus.
However, in Iron Horse’s version of the song, you could also hear all sorts of other sounds in the recording. The song became fast-paced and exhilarating—and it gives you a sudden boost of energy.
Though the band changed most of the instrumental, they were careful enough not to mess with the important elements— especially the message of the song.
Both versions were wonderfully made, and there is no doubt that Iron Horse superbly nailed this bluegrass rendition of the song!
If you want to hear more of their works, be sure to check out their website for more performances.
Click the link below to watch the entire performance:
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