The Chicago ensemble Cornmeal labels itself “progressive bluegrass,” though they aren’t nearly as iconoclastic as that tag might suggest. While the group isn’t immune to occasional jammy digressions into jazz and rock territory, they stay more closely within the realm of traditional bluegrass than their tie-dyed peers, mercifully resisting banjo-driven novelty covers of Snoop Dogg raps. What most sets them apart from their authentic, mountain-band predecessors is their playing, which tends to be much flashier and faster. They’re touring behind their latest album, Live in Chicago, IL Vol. I.
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