Jim Marsh will be the first to admit that he wasn’t exactly born into bluegrass.He didn’t grow up on the front porch of a shack cradled in some mountain holler — a la Loretta Lynn — holding the beat by slapping a palm against his knee. His first instrument was not a moonshine jug.
“Heck, I’m from the suburbs,” Marsh says with an ironic laugh. “Bluegrass was barely in my vocabulary.”
A West Virginia transplant, Marsh grew up listening to the titans of rock radio — The Steve Miller Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin. But around 1974, thanks to the now-infamous movie Deliverance, those same stations suddenly put the bluegrass classic “Dueling Banjos” into heavy rotation, captivating the 15-year-old Marsh.
“That’s when things changed for me,” Marsh says. “That was the starting point.”
For the next 30 years, Marsh continued to meld his love of pop music with the high-strung traditions of bluegrass, creating a legacy of bluegrass bands along the way — the most well-known being Distant Cousins, which he has fronted in various forms for more than 20 years and which recently released its latest CD, Somebody in Alabama Loves You.
“This band has changed a lot over the years,” Marsh says. “I’ve worked really hard to be surrounded by some great players because my goal (with Distant Cousins) has always been to make this the best local band possible.
“We’ve set some pretty high standards over the years.”
After numerous personnel changes, Marsh and co-founding member Mark Everett believe they’ve created the best version of Distant Cousins yet.
“No doubt,” Marsh says. “This current group fits together perfectly.”
Along with Marsh on banjo and Everett on mandolin, the current Distant Cousins line-up features Keith LaBenne on bass, Shannon Carr on acoustic guitar and Kelli Johnson on vocals and rhythm guitar.
Perhaps the reason the group jells so well — proof of which can be heard on Somebody in Alabama Loves You — is because they have each followed separate musical paths.
Johnson, like Marsh, grew up listening to classic rock along with country and blues. While LaBenne has a more classical background and Carr is a self-taught “phenom,” as Marsh puts it.
Yet through bluegrass their distinct musical personalities are allowed to shine, LaBenne explains.
“As long as we’ve been playing together, we’ve really had this tight groove,” says LaBenne, who joined the group about three years ago. “It’s almost like a little gallop when the rhythm really gets going. That’s when our live shows are at their best — when we all find that pocket, that groove at the same time.
“And it’s because of our different influences that I think we’re able to do that.”
Describing the music of Distant Cousins is about as varied as the personalities that create it, Carr says.
“It’s really a little bit of everything,” he says. “It’s blues. Folksy. Country. Swingy. With a little rock in there for good measure. But there’s always that classic bluegrass backbeat holding it all together.”
Contemporary bluegrass is probably the best way to put it. As part of their live shows, Distant Cousins likes to branch out beyond the traditional songs, including such covers as Guns n’Roses’ “Sweet Child ’O Mine” and songs by John Cougar Mellencamp and Blind Faith — all in an effort to prove that there are great songs everywhere, says LaBenne.
“We do some pretty wild stuff live,” he says. “People never know what to expect and that’s the fun part. We like thinking out of the box sometimes.”
The concept plays loud and clear on Somebody in Alabama Loves You. The CD offers several cover songs, including “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger” by Buddy and Julie Miles, “To Love Somebody” by The Bee-Gees, “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard and a heart-breaking take of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” There are also two traditional bluegrass tracks — “As Small As I Am” and “Little Maggie.”
The CD features several original tracks, too, including three by chief songwriter Johnson, who drew on some real-life experiences for inspiration.
Johnson first sang with Distant Cousins — then known as the Gnat Valley Ramblers — about three years ago when she came onstage during a jam session. She only played one official show with the group before moving to Oklahoma with her husband and two children.
Things didn’t work out quite as she had planned out West, so Johnson moved back a year later. When she got back to Jacksonville, Marsh was the first person she called. Her contributions to Somebody in Alabama — “Coming Home,” “All I Wanted” and the title track — are a lyrical reflection of her recent life’s journey.
“They’re all about getting back to where I started from,” Johnson says. “It’s about learning to let go, settling back and starting all over again.”
With it’s lineup firmly set and a disc that all members are proud of, the band believes the future is bright.
“This is definitely the best it’s ever been,” Marsh explains. “After 22 years, it finally feels like everything’s coming together. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
