Mason Via

 It took four quick years for Mason Via to become one of the newest leaders of modern-day American roots music. During that whirlwind period, he toured the world as a member of Old Crow Medicine Show, earned a Grammy nomination for his work on the band's chart-topping album Jubilee, contributed songs to Grammy Winning and Nominated records by Molly Tuttle and Del McCoury Band, and released his solo debut, New Horizons. The momentum continues with Mason Via, a self-titled solo record that balances the progressive with the timeless, reintroducing Mason as a southern storyteller and sharp-eyed singer/songwriter steeped in the bluegrass tradition.

With its acoustic arrangements and top-shelf flat-picking, the new self-titled album "Mason Via " was inspired by the music Mason heard as a child in Appalachia, raised in two mountain towns that straddled the Virginia/North Carolina border. One parent lived in Danbury, NC; the other lived in Patrick County, VA. Mason spent time in both homes, absorbing the musical traditions of an area that hosted fiddlers conventions, banjo competitions, and campfire jams. "I grew up crossing that state line all the time," he remembers. "My dad was an award-winning bluegrass songwriter and momma was a Deadhead who liked bluegrass, too. I was exposed to a lot of picking parties and music festivals when I was a kid, and I was encouraged to play, too."

He didn't need much encouragement. A naturally gifted singer, Mason began playing the acoustic guitar and mandolin, winning regional competitions while still a teenager. He started writing his own songs, too. By the early 2020s, he'd already flown the flag for bluegrass and folk music on prime-time TV as an American Idol contestant, completed multiple tours as the youngest member of Old Crow Medicine Show, and collaborated with artists like Sierra Ferrell — another Appalachian export who, like him, put her own spin on the music of the mountains. 

Mason Via, his followup to a critically-acclaimed debut album championed by NPR and The Oxford-American, is rooted in the mountains, too. After traveling from coast to coast during his time with Old Crow Medicine Show, Mason hasn't just returned to his solo career with renewed purpose and an evolved sense of showmanship; he's also gained a new perspective on his own roots. 

"This is like a homecoming for me," he says of the record, whose wide-ranging vision of bluegrass music makes room for progressive pickers (including Aaron Ramsey and Jim Van Cleve, both formerly of Mountain Heart) and traditional icons (like Ronnie Bowman, Junior Sisk, and "Queen of Bluegrass" Rhonda Vincent) alike. "I grew up in the country," he continues, "and once I left it, I missed going to those fiddler conventions and rocking all night in the mud with the bluegrass buddies that I first learned this tradition with. I've realized I'm thankful for where I come from, and this is a story of me going back to those roots."

Songs like "Wide Open" interpolate the riffs of old fiddle tunes into something fresh and original — one of the many tricks Mason learned during his influential time with Old Crow. "It's a way to honor the history of this traditional music that came before you, and still put your own spin on it," he explains. He nods to tradition again with "Oh Lordy Me" and "Mountain Lullaby," two songs laced with three-part vocal harmonies, and punctuated by dobro and fiddle. Showcasing just how diverse his reach can be, "Melt in the Sun" and "Falling" blend rock & roll influences with string-band instrumentation, while "Fireball" (written with fellow Idol contestant Zach John King) leans toward the melody-driven country music Mason heard during his time as a Nashville resident. It was in Nashville that the bulk of the album's co-writes took place, with Mason building up a catalog of love songs inspired by his long-distance relationship with the woman he'd later marry. When it came time to record that new material, he tapped Aaron Ramsey as producer and headed to the bluegrass mecca of Floyd County, Virginia. Joined by a tight group of pickers and harmony singers, he captured the album in a series of live performances, with everyone playing and harmonizing together in real-time. The result is a record that's raw, rowdy, and real, serving as a reintroduction to an artist who, having already left a mark on his genre as a collaborator and sideman, is now reintroducing and redefining his strengths as a solo act. 

Mason Via grew up with bluegrass music. It's in his blood. With "Mason Via",  he stakes his claim as one of the genre's native sons, 

coming home after years away to build something new.