You could call it an attraction…a curiosity…an anticipation of surprise and delight; but there's a better word to describe the music of The Greencards: Fascination. With their songs grounded deep in the traditions of American-roots and bluegrass, The Greencards are elevated by breathtaking technique and conceptual adventurousness. Paste magazine has called their 2009 album, Fascination, "… their most inventive yet...[the] musically curious album more than lives up to its title."
Now, with their Sugar Hill Records debut, it's official. Fascination describes the essence of this band. It was, first of all, their fascination with American roots music – bluegrass especially – that drew singer/bassist Carol Young and multiple string-instrument master Kym Warner from Australia, and violinist/violist Eamon McLoughlin from the U.K., to Austin, Texas, where they began performing together, and later to their current home base in Nashville. That urge to challenge themselves, to test the limits of any established genre, guided them on their first three albums. It kept them focused as they accumulated awards and acclamations, from the Americana Music Award in 2006 for "Emerging Artist of the Year" through tours with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson to last year's "Best Country Instrumental Performance" Grammy nomination for Viridian in 2008.
