WHAT NOW | GLIDE MAGAZINE: HIGHLAND RIDGE VIDEO PREMIERE
VIDEO PREMIERE: Mike Block Trio Stuns With Cello-Led “Highland Ridge” Instrumental
August 25, 2022
With Billy Strings leading the charge of a reinvigorated interest in the possibilities of bluegrass with sell-out shows and eye-opening collaborations, a cello player out of Boston is daringly taking his trio towards new musical possibilities. Mike Block Trio, featuring Joe K. Walsh (mandolin/vocals) and Zachariah Hickman (bass/vocals), is led by cello player, singer, and composer, Mike Block is returning for his third album of 2022, and fourth in well less than a year. Where fiddle, guitar, or mandolin often plays the dominant role in bluegrass, Block is letting the cello become the new hero.
Glide is premiering the video for the second single from the record, “Highland Ridge”, a rousing musical breakdown with classical music themes and progressive preciseness. Block takes a more urban approach here, giving bluegrass a bold statement, where the worlds of Del McCoury meet Mahavishnu Orchestra and Brand X.
“This tune was written to explore the progressive bluegrass voice of our trio, building off cello-friendly licks and melodic phrases. So many bluegrass tunes are idiomatic to the fiddle, so I wanted to write something that could blow people away, but still make me feel at home on the cello. The title connects to this desire, as I live around the corner of Highland Avenue, the main drag in my hometown of Somerville, MA – just outside of Boston,” says Block