With the smell of barbeque wafting through the air, one can only expect to hear some good ole bluegrass.
From Mississippi, Breaking Grass fit the theme of the Soybean Festival to a tee on Friday night in Weldon Park. All five members of the group wore blue jeans and cowboy boots to fit their music style. With Cody Farrar on guitar/lead singer, Tyler White on fiddle, Thelton Vanderford on banjo, Zach Wooten on mandolin and Britt Sheffield on bass, this quintet was incredible to listen to and watch. White and Wooten played like grown men, even though they are just now reaching eighteen years old.
Breaking Grass began their set with a song off their first album called “April Rain.” Following that song, Farrar told the audience they were about to do a thing they liked to call pickin’, which was strictly playing bluegrass with no words.
After a few more songs of their own, Breaking Grass threw a curveball toward the audience with a medley of today’s popular songs, bluegrass style. The medley included “I’ve Got Sunshine,” “Free Falling,” and “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green to name a few. One song that got the crowd all riled up was “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Everyone in the bleachers was singing and clapping along.
Breaking Grass was a family-friendly band and appealed to an audience of all ages. Tim Burcham, the chair of UT Martin’s Agriculture, Geosciences and Natural Resources was impressed with the amount of people who had stayed to hear the second half of Breaking Grass’s set.
The talent within Breaking Grass was phenomenal. The crowd loved them, and Cody Farrar even said, “We love you too, Martin, Tennessee!”
The band wrapped up their concert by playing “Rocky Top” in the style they know best: good ole bluegrass.
For more information on the band, check out their website, www.breakinggrass.comand their Facebook!
