Quality Americana

Today we’re looking at some interesting sounds from the bluegrass world with “Get up” from Tanasi.

“Get Up” has a feel that gets you lost in the sound. Though it features the traditional bluegrass instruments, the way it’s laid out has this rich, dreamy feel. The harmonies and call and response solo are something you don’t usually hear. 

The song is based on an old Yoruba folk chant that typically starts with drums and eventually builds into an ensemble. Cardine wanted to try and capture the groove of the drums with modern stringed instruments.

Virginia Roots

Billy Cardine was raised in Virginia not far from Washington D.C. He started out on piano at a young age and later studied with Mike Auldridge who he cited as one of his heroes. Cardine plays dobro and pedal steel along with choturangi, a traditional stringed instrument from India.

“I started over there in the early 2000s,” Cardine said of his time in India. “I never expected to be an Indian classical musician.” 

Cardine said the techniques he’s learned opened up different octaves on the instrument. He’s visited over a dozen times.

“It’s like another planet,” Cardine said. “Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what’s going on there is happening at the same time as what’s going on here.”

World Influences

They take many influences in Tanasi, including African and Hawaiian. 

“I called us the iPod generation because all of a sudden you could have stuff from all over the world right at your fingertips,” Cardine said. “It really changed the way that we intake music and for musicians the way that we intake influences.” 

Cardine is an avid music collector, and he continues to collect sounds from all parts of the world that play a role in forming the sound of Tanasi. The music traces back to a band called the Biscuit Burners where Cardine and his wife Mary Lucey first started touring. 

“Within like eight or nine months we were playing on the Grand Ole Opry and we had a tour bus,” Cardine said. “It just blew up into this whole juggernaut that we could barely control. We did that for a good six years and then kids started showing up so it kind of put the brakes on that.”

Now that the kids have grown up, they first started backing Anya Hinkle at local shows. They soon realized that they had a new burst of creativity as a trio, and formed Tanasi. 

“We’ve already toured around the world with this group,” Cardine said as they’re releasing their first album. 

The name Tanasi is a traditional Cherokee word for the land that makes up Tennessee.

“We wanted to have a nod to our own roots,” Cardine said. “I think sometimes people mistakenly characterize America as being so young, and not having history, but there’s this amazing who knows how many thousands of years of history long before Europeans ever came over. We’re surrounded by this culture, we’ve just got to choose to look at it.”  

Lucey was able to contact the Chief of the Cherokee Nation and receive the blessing to use the name for their group.

Many Rivers to Cross

“Many Rivers” was influenced by the impact of Hurricane Helene. 

“All of the bridges on my road were gone,” Cardine said. “Our little creek turned into a river.”

Support the Artists

Tanasi has an upcoming performance at the Strawberry Music Festival in California along with Northeastern dates. More information can be found here.

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