Jamie Harper

The sideman project has become a staple of the bluegrass recording world, in a way that doesn’t even exist in most of the popular music industry. Can you imagine Miranda Lambert’s bass player expecting her to sing a couple of songs on his solo project, and then including one of the songs in her show? But this happens regularly in bluegrass. Maybe that’s because bluegrass presents bands as on a nearly equal footing with the band leaders, not on the back line, in the dark, laboring without recognition. Fiddler and vocalist Jamie Harper is the latest young grass sideman to produce their own solo album, Old Pal, released today on Mountain Fever Records. It’s full of the lively, aggressive, and utterly infectious sound that defines today’s contemporary bluegrass, highlighting Harper as an agile bowman, band leader, and assembler of bluegrass talent. The supporting musicians consist primarily of members of Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice, with whom Harper currently performs, and Doyle Lawson’s Quicksilver. But they are all pickers and singers close to Jamie’s age, and players he has grown up with as they all became professional calibre musicians. The vocals especially stand out, with Harper choosing from among the most vibrant young singers in bluegrass. Eli Johnson and Dustin Pyrtle work with Doyle Lawson,jun and each turn in an impressive lead vocal or two, and provide harmony vocals throughout. Daniel Salyer is also featured on one of his compositions, Till I Was Gone, reminding us why he may yet be one of the most celebrated male voices (and writers) in our music.