Bluegrass is a genre sometimes at odds with itself. There’s a focus on tradition, yet some of the most celebrated practitioners of the music can be the most adventuresome. Nickel Creek, New Grass Revival, Steep Canyon Rangers and more have earned a name for themselves by blowing up conventions and pushing the boundaries of bluegrass; based on his recordings, collaborations and mind-expanding live shows, North Carolinian Larry Keel ought to be added to that list.

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge

From his earliest group McGraw Gap through the more wide-ranging Larry Keel Experience and now with Natural Bridge, his music has taken the standards of bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music and interpreted them through masterful instrumental prowess and an ear for collaboration. Natural Bridge, originally billed as a more traditional group for flat-picking guitar master Keel but which has become increasingly less so, includes wife Jenny Keel on bass and vocals, Mark Schimick on mandolin and vocals and Jason Flournoy on banjo and vocals.

Flournoy says he wound up playing with Keel simply by being in the right place at the right time.

“[Keel] had formed Natural Bridge about a year-and-a-half before I joined,” Flournoy says. “I had been playing in a Boulder, Colo., band that toured nationally and I was ready to move back to the Southeast to be near my family. Larry asked me to join right when that other band was coming to an end. We met over 12 years ago, and he’s had me sit in with him a few times at festivals we both played, so it was an easy choice.”

The biggest challenge for any group is learning to play well together, and Flournoy says the members of Natural Bridge are at the peak of that learning curve these days.

“It has a lot to do with being comfortable with each other,” he says. “And we’ve now been on the road three and a half years. We know each other real well, and there’s a real telepathic communication going on, with solid rhythm onstage.”

Flournoy sees his own role in this as a fluid one.

“I just fit in wherever I need to,” he says. “Sometimes it’s chopping out a rhythm with the backbeat, sometimes I take solos. It’s whatever fits into the fabric of the music, melodically; the main thing is to serve the music, not yourself.”

Backwoods, the new Natural Bridge album, is a co-production between Keel and frequent collaborator Keller Williams, whose own jam-based acoustic music has garnered a large following of its own.

“Larry and Keller have been friends since they were teenagers, and Keller used to open for … McGraw Gap,” Flournoy says. “They have always created music together and hung out. They have a good time doing it, and it works well for both of them.”

What works well on the new album is the mixture of instrumental tunes, new original compositions and a well-chosen cover or two. Even the latter category holds a surprise or two. Sure, Natural Bridge does a Beatles tune, but it’s not a common hit: It’s “Mother Nature’s Son.” And kudos to Keel for picking a classic from underappreciated country songwriter Tom T. Hall, “Faster Horses.”

“That’s a great example of the kind of song we cover,” Flournoy says. “Music that we all like, songs that we hear and fall in love with and think we can have an adaptation that’s original enough.”

As for what’s next for Keel and Natural Bridge, Flournoy offers an enticing sneak preview.
“It took a couple years to get this one finished up, so we have enough new songs to do two more albums,” he says. “Right now we’re concentrating on playing live and fired up about lots of good stuff happening this year.”


The White Mule is at 1530 Main St. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Call 661-8199 or visit thewhitemule.com for more information.