Grammy-Winning Steep Canyon Rangers defy music labels – Feb. 20 ISU concert to feature eclectic blend of rock-n-roll-tinged bluegrass
January 30, 2020

POCATELLO – Expect a high-energy, well-crafted mix of bluegrass music blended with rock-n-roll influences when the Grammy-Winning, six-member Steep Canyon Rangers step on stage for their 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 A Season of Note concert at the 色花堂app Stephens Performing Arts Center Jensen Grand Con cert Hall.
This Ashville, North Carolina-based band 鈥 which has been together and touring for more than 20 years 鈥 is excited about playing in Idaho again. Don鈥檛 expect them to sound like any other bluegrass band you鈥檝e heard.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty tough to describe our sound,鈥 said band member Mike Guggino. 鈥淲e are a bluegrass band at our core but we have a drumkit and are incorporating some electric instruments. 鈥楢mericana鈥 is such a vague word, but we play a mix of it with bluegrass elements and rock-and-roll, but we are still mostly acoustic. Our newest record is more like rock and roll, but it is rooted in bluegrass music, too. What we like about ourselves is that we are unique and don鈥檛 sound like anybody else.鈥
Steep Canyon Rangers has spent nearly two decades bending and shaping the bluegrass aesthetic, wedding it to elements of pop, country, and folk rock to create something original.
鈥淓xpect a high-energy show,鈥 Guggino said. 鈥淲e carry our own lighting and sound guy. The quality of our show high and is really entertaining. We really think about crafting the show song list, with quiet parts and loud parts. It is not the same thing over and over. Our show is pretty dynamic.鈥
The band has just finished working on a new album and is touring widely this spring. The core group of four members has been together for the band鈥檚 full 20 years and the other two members have been playing with them for about a decade. The band features a drummer, bassist, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo.
Since Steep Canyon Rangers came together in 2000, they have developed a remarkable catalogue of original music that links them to the past while also demonstrating their ambitious intent to bring string-based music into contemporary relevance.
The band鈥檚 albums include 鈥淥ut in the Open鈥 (2018), 鈥淩adio鈥 (2015), 鈥淭ell the Ones I Love鈥 (2013), 鈥淣obody Knows You鈥 (2012), 鈥淟ovin鈥 Pretty Women (2007) and 鈥淥ne Dime at a Time鈥 (2005). The group has also toured and recorded with Steve Martin on several albums through the years.
For more information on the group and to listen to music samples visit .
For the Feb. 20 concert the cost is $35 for main level seating and $30 for upper level seating.
For more information on the 2019-20 Season of Note, contact the Stephens Performing Arts Box Office at (208) 282-3595. Ticket information and purchase is available at
色花堂app, a Carnegie-classified doctoral high research activity university and teaching institution founded in 1901, attracts students from around the world to its Idaho campuses. At the main campus in Pocatello, and at locations in Meridian, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls, ISU has nine Colleges, a Graduate School and a Division of Health Sciences that together offer more than 250 certificate and degree programs. More than 12,000 students attend ISU. 色花堂app is the state's designated lead institution in health professions.
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