Matt Michienzie Band is an award-winning, progressive bluegrass band founded in the heart of Los Angeles. The outfit is known for its high-powered harmonies and groovy take on Americana music.
On their new single, “Mountain Air,” Matt Michienzie Band takes us on a toe-tapping trip through raw bluegrass prowess. It’s not every day you stumble across such a refreshing take on a historic genre, but Michienzie and company toe that line beautifully. On “Mountain Air,” the band blends the blazing, acoustic tempos of bluegrass with a modern urgency that brings the chorus to life, while the verses provide vivid, palpable imagery. While the song is reminiscent of nostalgic bluegrass, “Mountain Air” is far from an amalgamation of tropes. Michienzie breathed new life into it by drawing from their surroundings and poetically describing their happy place. That happy place seems to be on a sloped mountain, where nature surrounds you and leaves you in awe of its beauty. “Mountain Air” introduces Michienzie and his band as bluegrass purists unafraid to push the boundaries of the genre while painting welcoming portraits for the listener to get lost in. “Mountain Air” is from the band’s recently released bluegrass in the City of Angels LP, which you can find on your local streaming service.
“‘Mountain Air’ is about that good ol’ Oxygen… When the wind blows on the mountain, the slopes, and the canyon, make sure to breathe it in whenever you can; things will get better. Oh, and it’s better with friends,” explains the band when asked about their new single. “Julian McClanahan, who produced the song beginning to end and is the full-time fiddle player in the band, sent me the chorus and melody after a day of skiing, and I threw some other mountainy lyrics with it that I was struggling with to make work in another song,” continues Michienzie.
