NEW GLOUCESTER, ME — Maine’s pre-eminent bluegrass band, The World Famous Grassholes, announce today they will release their next single, “Watermelon Sugar (C Money Burns Remix),” on Leap Day, Feb. 29. It is the second in a series of releases where local and national electronic producers take the band’s raw WAV files from their April 2023 release, “Gently Used,” and remix them as they see fit, producing new and unexpected sounds and emotional appeal. 

The band will celebrate the song’s release with a show at Flatbread, in Portland, as part of their annual Winter Residency, on Thursday, March 21, starting at 6:30 p.m. There is no cover, but attendees are reminded that the more beer they drink, the better the Grassholes sound. 

Originally, “Watermelon Sugar” appeared on the Grassholes’ latest album as a blitzing fast bluegrass jam of the billion-streamed megahit, bookended by singer Sam Pfeifle’s interpretation of pop star Harry Styles’ first and second verse. It has become an in-demand song for their setlists this winter and serves as an appeal to the next generation of bluegrass fans. What you’ll hear on the 29th is radically changed, an upbeat dance track perfect for late-night clubs and vibing out with your socks on in the mirror. Maine-based C Money Burns — who himself just released an album of “cosmic jazz beatscapes,” “REFRACT”  — ripped the track apart, isolated the vocals, and turned the acoustic instruments into digital sounds and driving beats. 

Once again, the arresting cover art has been created by Glen Halliday, CEO of GHDesignCo.

Is it still bluegrass? No. Is it an awesome reinterpretation of acoustic music that manages to completely reimagine the song’s possibilities? It sure is.  

After more than a decade making music together in Maine’s premiere bluegrass band, The World Famous Grassholes, fiddler Heather Kahill and guitarist Sam Pfeifle have branched out with the advent of 2024 to release their first single as a duo, “In the New Year.” It is available now, January 1, 2024, on Bandcamp and YouTube. 

Working in the tradition of New Year’s songs paved by the likes of U2 (“New Year’s Day”), Taylor Swift (“New Year’s Day”), Death Cab for Cutie (“The New Year”), and the Walkmen (“In the New Year”), the new release plays on the good intentions engendered by the turn of the calendar, as the pair alternate making promises for a year of good works and selflessness. Ultimately, though, both decide that forces beyond their control will decide their fates. 

“In the New Year,” Pfeifle sings in the open, “I’ll help out all my friends/ Watch the means and not the ends/ I’ll try to make somebody’s day.”

Recorded live at the duo’s India Street studio in Portland, and written by Pfeifle just last week in a stroke of inspiration, the arrangement is spare and immediate, with Kahill’s fiddle an intimate presence and Pfeifle’s percussive guitar playing keeping an urgent rhythm. In contrast to what can be a raucous five-piece drive on the four Grassholes’ records Kahill and Pfeifle have played on, or the grandiose nature of Kahill’s work in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, this bends more into the folk traditions of storytelling and close listening, where there’s nowhere to hide. 

Part of that is thanks to the mastering and touch-up work done by in-demand engineer Chris “C$” Burns, who provided a warm New Year’s Day glow. And it looks sharp thanks to design work from Glen Halliday, who recently relocated his GHDesignCO offices to Merida, Mexico.

Look for more releases and a growing performance schedule for Heather + Sam in 2024 and beyond, in addition to a full slate of World Famous Grassholes gigs and releases.

NEW GLOUCESTER, ME — Maine’s pre-eminent bluegrass band, The World Famous Grassholes, announce today they will release their next single, “There Is a Time (INSMNC Remix),” on Black Friday, Nov. 24. It is the first in a planned series of releases where local and national electronic producers take the band’s raw WAV files from their April 2023 release, “Gently Used,” and remix them as they see fit, producing new and unexpected sounds and emotional appeal. 

The band will celebrate the song’s release with a show at Sun Tiki, in Portland, as part of a three-band bill with Becca Biggs and Toby McAllister and the Sierra Sounds, on Dec. 8, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. 

Originally, “There Is a Time” appeared on the Grassholes’ latest album as a slow and haunting cover, sung by bassist Flann O’Brien, of the Rodney Dillard and Mitch Jayne tune, released in 1963 as a Dillards song on the Andy Griffith Show. What you’ll hear on the 24th is radically changed, with a hip-hop beat, back-checking rhythm, and a new melody created from the fiddle solo. South Jersey-based INSMNC — who himself just released a new production with rapper Ang’Geon, “Bagpipe Dreams” — produced two versions, one down-tuned, the other with O’Brien’s original vocal level, for a “light mode” and “dark mode” version of the release. 

Leaning into a tradition that’s populated with amazing work by the likes of Moby, Mike Butler, and Barrio Lindo, INSMNC took acoustic, live-recorded sounds and broke them into pieces, remixing them into something that is both loyal to the original tune and a creative new work in its own right.

Other producers are currently playing with Grassholes tracks, and the band hope to release one new remix per quarter through 2024. We’ll see what happens!

The World Famous Grassholes announced today they will return to Flatbread Company Portland Maine for their annual winter residency!

Do you like pizza? Beer? Bluegrass? Then you are going to be pretty psyched to find yourself at Flatbread in Portland, ME, on the Third Thursday of each month, October through April!

Starting at 6:30 p.m., the Grassholes will play two white-hot sets of bluegrass music while you eat your pizza and drink your beer (*or whatever you like to drink; we’re not judgy. Water is good for you).

This winter residency allows the Grassholes to work on new material in a more casual setting, plus get their fill of very cute children, who always seem to bring their parents to our gigs at Flatbread. Are your kids loud and boisterous? That will not be a problem on the Third Thursday of each month at Flatbread, because the Grassholes will be louder and more boisterous than that!

Mark your calendars now! You won’t want to miss a single one!

FAQ:
Can we call ahead for reservations? No. First come, first served. Rolling in at 7:30 for the second set can be a great option.

Will the Grassholes still wear hats and cowboy books? Obvs. We are offended by the question.

Might there be special guests and whatnot? Almost definitely. Stay tuned!

Do they have food other than pizza? Probably. They have the internet on computers now. Look up the menu.

I have money to burn and like to support awesome bluegrass bands, are you actively seeking sponsors for your residency? Absolutely. Drop us a DM. Especially if you work for Schaeffer.

Is there anything else you’d like to add that I haven’t asked about? Not really. That pretty much sums it up.

The World Famous Grassholes will release their new single, “Sad Song Medley (Blue Ridge Cabin / Old Home Place)” on August 25 to all major streaming platforms. The tune, a mash-up of bluegrass classics “Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” first recorded by Flatt & Scruggs, and “Old Home Place,” first recorded by the Dillards, features three different lead vocalists in a unique arrangement that is sure to delight fans of old-time bluegrass. 

The band will celebrate the song’s release with a concert August 28, at the Poland Springs Resort, in Poland Springs, ME, at 6 p.m. The show will serve also as the rousing conclusion to the band’s 2023 Gazebo Tour of Maine, which saw them play 9 town gazebos in front of more than 1000 total fans. The band suggest a $10 donation to the Poland Springs Historical Society. 

As a follow-up to the band’s highly touted album, “Gently Used,” released this spring, “Sad Song Medley” finds the veteran band at their best, with wonderfully blended harmonies in the choruses, blistering banjo breaks, and a pair of fiddle breaks that will break your heart. 

It will be an auspicious night in Portland, April 13, as the long-awaited return of the WMPG Bluegrass Spectacular will also serve as an album-release party for the World Famous Grassholes’ 5th studio album, “Gently Used.” The band will have copies of the limited-edition CD on hand for the event at One Longfellow, which will also feature Pejepscot Station and Breakin’ Strings, and the album will be available that day on all major streaming services. 

As one of the longest continuously running bluegrass bands in New England, the Grassholes build on a body of work that includes the out-of-print and unavailable “Rusty and Broken,” from 2002 and recorded by a previous lineup, along with “The Outlaw Janey Jenkins,” “The First Time You Got Scared,” and “South Congress,” which all feature the current lineup of Heather Kahill on fiddle, Merrill Marsh on guitar, Flann O’Brien on bass, Sam Pfeifle on guitar, and Field Rider on banjo. 

“South Congress,” however, represented a step change for the band, resulting in glowing reviews (“It is with a mile-wide grin I point you toward the World Famous Grassholes and their album ‘South Congress,’” Aimsel Ponti, Portland Press Herald) and inclusion in the Grateful Dead Family Discography. 

For “Gently Used,” the Grassholes bring back that successful production team, working again with Jonathan Wyman to capture the nine songs on the album in a fully live environment over the course of an afternoon at the world-renowned Halo recording studio, and calling once again on mastering engineer Chris “C$” Burns to make sure the sounds are properly polished. Fans of the band will recognize Grassholes originals like “Colorado,” “Everything,” and “Walk Right Out” from the past year’s live sets, and will be delighted by the title track, which is a re-recording of an original that first appeared on “First Time You Got Scared,” but this time features Marsh on lead vocals. 

“We love the idea of recycling ‘Gently Used’ for the new album,” said guitarist Sam Pfeifle, “as it gets to the core of what we do as a band, taking up traditional instruments, sounds, and songs and breathing fresh life into them.” This is certainly true for the album’s closing track, a reinterpretation of the Harry Styles’ megahit, “Watermelon Sugar,” where Kahill uses her fiddle to weave the core melody throughout, but the rest of the band use it as a jumping off point for extended improvisational jams. 

The band are excited, too, to release the album at the Bluegrass Spectacular, a fundraiser for community radio station WMPG that returns for an 18th iteration, after a three-year covid hiatus. In 2020, for the release of “South Congress,” the Grassholes were forced to keep things private in consideration of the global pandemic. This year, they have the opportunity to have friends and fans join them at one of Portland’s most prominent venues, and easily the best listening room.