Mike Mitchell of Floyd, Virginia, considers himself foremost a songwriter, and in his involvement with the International Bluegrass Music Association’s songwriting committee, he has done much to support the songwriting community. On Friday, May 2, when the Mike Mitchell Band took the stage at Nashville’s historic Station Inn, he demonstrated the other facets of his place in the bluegrass community.
As founder of Floyd Music School, Mitchell has helped to grow his own band. Sydney Christian, who provided strong lead and harmony vocals, as well as mandolin chops, got her musical start as a student at the school, studying piano for fifteen years before going on to study mandolin and voice. Mitchell’s son James, playing guitar and twin fiddle, has joined the band and also teaches beginning guitar. Bass player Jared Houseman, who also grew up in Floyd and played in some of the same music circles, laid claim Friday to being Nashville’s newest musician, having just signed a lease in town hours before taking the stage.
Rounding out the band were Tommy Morse on banjo and Jeff Daugherty on lead mandolin. The set list included a balance of old time and bluegrass standards and original songs and tunes. They played “My Little Mountain Home” early, showcasing the band’s tight harmony. Mitchell introduced “Angeline the Baker” as the second song he taught music students (after “Wildwood Flower”). They also included a bass solo by Houseman on “High on the Mountain Top.” Throughout the evening, they interspersed instrumental tunes, highlighting the savvy pickers.
Christian and Mitchell shared lead on “Once upon a Rhyme,” one of the band’s newest songs. She also covered Sierra Ferrell’s “In Dreams.” Daugherty was featured on “Little Delilah,” a song he co-wrote with Jon Weisberger. He also sang “Booth Shot Abraham,” a song he co-wrote from the perspective of the gun used to kill Lincoln.
Mitchell highlighted his vocal and fiddling skills on some of his original songs from his latest album Fathers and Sons, including “I Hear Banjos” and “It Rained.” They also played “Bottom of the Bottle, after which he quipped, “Yes, I wrote that song; no, I’m not going to talk about it.”
The audience at the Station Inn was composed of locals as well as tourists from as far away as Yorkshire, England, who enjoyed some back-and-forth banter with the band, who had recently toured overseas. A visitor in town from Memphis for his son’s college graduation said he knew where to go in Nashville for good music. With great vocals, first-rate instrumentalists, and good humor, the Mike Mitchell Band proved him right.
