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Artist
Hot Day at the Zoo
12+ albums
bluegrassJamnew grassbostonbluegrass jam
about
Based out of Lowell, MA, this progressively modern, 4-piece string band (guitar, mandolin, banjo, upright bass) is pioneering a new genre of music their fans are calling "ZooGrass"!!! It's a high-energy, gritty-urban-bluegrass with strong elements of folk, rock, blues, ragtime and jazz. Their instruments suggest old-time string-band music; their rhythms and tempos are those of bluegrass as often as not; and their songwriting and singing have a let-loose, country or jug band quality. To say they play by ear isn't selling them short; they aim to spark a fire and keep it roaring by grabbing chance innovations like kindling, singing loud and clear, and playing their damnedest. “Acoustic has never sounded so electric! At first, Lowell ``bluegrass" band Hot Day at the Zoo looks like a bluegrass band. The instruments are bluegrass (all strings). The fast-paced, finger-pickin' tunes start out sounding like bluegrass. Even the slight drawl in singer Mike Dion's voice seems like traditional bluegrass. But listen a wee bit longer and it is anything but.” Boston Globe 8/06 Together since 2003, Hot Day at the Zoo is a leading example of a younger band that found its way to traditional music through rock and roll. “After listening to the Zoo live, you quickly get a sense that the conventions of traditional bluegrass, and its cousin old-time music, matter less to the band members than the directness and adaptability of the string band format. HDATZ creates a musical space with plenty of
