When I first met Twisted Pine, they were playing a festival on the island and had just released an EP primarily composed of Bill Monroe covers. They were talented, if not particularly unique. Things have changed.
Clearly, they’ve been listening to most everything. Their progressive sound contains everything listed above, along with some pop and country. Above all, it’s fun and joyful.
“When the four of us get together and get on stage, there is certainly an element of playfulness and fun and humor in our personalities that comes out in our music,” said mandolinist Dan Bui, noting that capturing that experience was a major goal when recording the album.
“It almost feels radical in a way,” added upright bassist Chris Sartori. “There’s so much sorrow out there in the world and it feels like something we can generate for ourselves and give to our audience.”
Anh Phung, the band’s flutist, was the only member not available for the interview. Yes, this is a bluegrass band with a flutist. And yes, it works. The band may take on many styles, but they remain an acoustic outlet with (mostly) traditional bluegrass instruments even on their funkiest tracks.
Joy is quite literally the topic of standout single “Goosebump Feeling.” Parks says the feeling comes in waves, though sometimes she doesn’t expect that it will ever come back.
“It’s continuous ups and downs. Sometimes you’ll even out but it’s nice when you catch that high,” Parks said.
“After Midnight (Nothing Good Happens)” captures a very specific moment of joy through which the band bonded and honed their sound: late nights at a bluegrass festival.
“That’s when the real fun of the festival is just getting started,” said Bui. “Everybody goes back to their campsite, they start breaking into their cooler, they start grilling, they build a fire, and start picking tunes.”
The members Twisted Pine make for particularly interesting guests at a campfire thanks to the presence of Phung.
“The way Anh plays, she’s really good at blending her sound in with traditional instruments,” Sartori said. “People get excited about the flute because it’s so unique and Anh is usually the only flutist at the jam, although recently there’s been an influx. She’s building a little flute army.”
On the track the band acknowledges that factors like mosquitoes, nausea, and the simple difficulty of functioning the day after an all-night pickathon can lead to some regrets. They also know they’ll be back.
The instrumentals on the album are already unique by virtue of the flute. So the genre-bending and playfulness put them into a category of their own. At least until the flute army gets recording contracts, these will be some of the most recognizable instrumentals of any bluegrass band.
“A Beautiful Phase” is the only slower, plaintive track on the album, somewhere between reminiscing and regretting. But if any of these songs can be said to have a slight edge to them, it’s “Chanel Perfume.” It’s far and away the track least influenced by bluegrass and serves as notice to a man wasting the singer’s time.
“Don’t use up my time in this way; I’m trying to get out there, strut my stuff, be free, be me, and I don’t need someone standing in my way,” Parks said, taking on a slightly silly and chill tone of voice. She then switched to a serious tone. “In this day and age, for women in particular, there are so many people trying to take away what is ours.”
Quickly though, Parks said she wasn’t looking to elaborate on those comments. There is certainly a complex and difficult world out there, but Love Your Mind is about the joy.
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Twisted Pine and the songs we discussed, starting with After Midnight, which captures the joy present throughout the album by describing a bluegrass festival. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.twistedpineband.com/home for more.
Country Pocket 