ON the Beat | Greener Grasses, Rocky Rootsy Impulses at the Bowl

Shakey Graves (left) and Trampled by Turtles play the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, August 22. | Photos: Courtesy

The relationship of rock ‘n’ roll and bluegrass — and other rootsy and or unplugged music — has always been a loose, slippery, and weirdly natural, kinfolky one. Rockers can find themselves easily lured by the bluegrass muse, as has been evidenced by the bluegrass-inclined leanings of a long list of “rock” acts, including The Band, The Avett Brothers, the Grateful Dead, Phish, and especially the Will the Circle be Unbroken avatars Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Burning licks and rebel spirits provide one of the common threads between the genres. General American musical DNA links another, electricity factor aside.

Take the case of the popular left-of-bluegrass sensation outta Duluth, Minnesota, Trampled by Turtles, which is bringing its acoustic and attitude-basted bluegrass sound to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, August 22, on a saucy bill with alt-rootsy Austinian Shaky Graves. To cite the Trampled origin story legend, leader Dave Simonett moved sideways from rock into the lean, acoustic genre of bluegrass and folk after his rock gear was stolen. It was a fortuitous misfortune, leading him to pull together former speed-metal-drummer-turned-fiddler Ryan Young, banjoist Dave Carroll, mandolinist Erik Berry, and bassist Tim Saxhaug.

This is not your grandfather’s bluegrass: rough edges, rowdy detours, and sometimes yowling vocals remind us of the players/pickers rock ‘n’ roll cred. The Trampled sound has proven to be a winning formula in the dawning of the age of Americana and from before the current crop of young bluegrass hybrid wizards — Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Ferrell, and the like.

In a case of rock and bluegrass song themes overlapping, two of the band’s more popular tunes take as their titles and subject, mood/mind-altering substances, both literally and metaphorically: “Whiskey,” from Songs from a Ghost Town (2004) and “Codeine,” from 2005’s Blue Sky and the Devil. Other loveable hits on their ten-title discography (almost all on their own Banjodad Records label) include the speedy, bluegrass-with-a-pinch-of-punk tune “Wait so Long,” (from 2010’s Palamino, a Billboard bluegrass chart-topper) and the sweet-toned “Wildflowers.”

Yes, the band qualifies under the rubric of country shows in the current Bowl season. But they operate in a special niche zone of the country world, where reformed rockers dare to pick and dwell.

To-Doings:

Over at the SOhO, always reliably cooking up good musical options and good eats/drinks, this week’s musical menu includes a return visit from the impressive man of song Pete Yorn, stopping for a solo acoustic gig on Saturday, August 23.The singer-songwriter had a bold initial impact with his 2001 critically acclaimed album Musicforthemorningafter, with its punchy hit “For Nancy (‘Cos it Already Is)” and a swarm of next big thing proclamations.

Over years of writing and releasing new material and carving out a decent music life just below the high life radar, Yorn’s sturdy way with a song has prevailed, and occasionally pops up into broader public ear space, as with his bouncy duet with a moody-breathy Scarlett Johansson, “Relator.” His latest release is The Hard Way (listen here), another winsome pack of songs well sung.

Yorn is a rocker and a folk-popper, whose songs can survive the translation from rock band to a well-strummed acoustic and solo mode. Check him out, solo at SOhO.

Also on Saturday, at the Lobero Theatre, John “Steppenwolf” Kay — who has called Santa Barbara home for many years now — makes one of his periodic stepping-out appearances. On this occasion, though, he’s leaving his guitar and storied singing voice at home, appearing just in a Q&A session after a screening of the new rock doc Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf, about the rise, fall, and lingering influence of his band Steppenwolf. Joining Kay will be Steppenwolf bandmate and bassist Nick St. Nicholas.