They have another unique place in bluegrass history because, in 2007, they became the only group to ever to win the band competitions at the Telluride and RockyGrass Festivals in the same year.

The young Colorado-based quartet, Chris Elliott (banjo), Jessica Smith (upright bass) Taylor Sims (guitar) and Alex Johnstone (mandolin), are all graduates from South Plains College and are now looking to build on the interest generated by the aforementioned album.

Way Up On A Mountain features several original song penned by band members, such as It’s Alright My Darlin’, Drivin’ Me Crazy and Slow Down. Intermingled are a couple of new songs from John Diamond, (the opener My Love Is Way Up On A Mountain and Another Lonesome Night My Dear) one from Mark Brinkman (Try and Catch The Wind) and the John Pennell-Dave Peterson co-write Til’ You Come Back To Me.

Also included are a couple of covers; Ricky Nelson’s forlorn Lonesome Town and Bill Monroe’s In Despair; and two instrumental pieces; Cuba Vera Swing and Under The Gun.

Each of the foursome sing lead and all except Johnstone provide harmony on various tracks.

IBMA award-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland contributes his masterful work on half a dozen tracks and another guest, Sally Van Meter, adds resophonic guitar to three others.

Way Up On A Mountain was released earlier this week (May 5), and the band is out now touring in support. You can find their schedule online.

Audio samples are available on MySpace.

We mentioned last week that they would have a new Lost and Found CD in March, and Mark tells us that they will also have a Barry Scott Gospel project, the debut from Spring Creek and a new album from David Davis & the Warrior River Boys between April and May.

“That will quickly be followed by Don Rigsby’s first Gospel recording for Rebel sometime in June. I’m confidant Paul Williams will have a new album ready for this year, as he always does.

And that’s just the new projects… we have a few reissues and compilations planned as well. I’m confident that the John Duffey collection we’ve been promising for the past few years will see the light of day sometime this Spring; we’ll also have a Mac Wiseman CD on our Vault Masters Series coming out around that time too.

A collection tentatively titled Drive Time Bluegrass will be the first release of the year on our budget-priced 8000 Series – that will probably drop sometime early Summer. There are also plans for a second Larry Sparks Gospel compilation, a retrospective on Benny & Valle Cain, and a repackaged McPeak Brothers collection as well.”

That’s a lot to be looking forward to from Rebel this year. Hat’s off to them for continuing to release both new music, and compilations from tehir extensive collection of classic bluegrass.

The Lyons, Colorado-based quartet, Alex Johnstone (mandolin, fiddle and vocals), Jessica Smith (bass and vocals), Taylor Sims (guitar and vocals) and Chris Elliott (banjo and vocals), have Michael Cleveland (IBMA six-time Fiddle Player of the Year) and Grammy-award winner Sally Van Meter among the guest artists.

Nashville songwriter and sideman Jeff White (Vince Gill, Alison Krauss) is producing this first album for Rebel.

The band has understandably been both nervous and excited by this step into the unknown …

“We’ve been more nervous going into this session than with our two previous records,” says bassist Jessica Smith. “But we’re confident that Jeff [White] will help us create an outstanding CD for Rebel.”

“We’ve been going through our song list with a fine-toothed comb,” agrees banjo player Chris Elliott. “This is going to be a national release and every single song needs to reflect that.”

The album will feature 12 songs, evenly split between originals and covers. The band is especially keen on In Despair, made popular by Bill Monroe in the 1950s, and Lonesome Town, a Ricky Nelson song they discovered on a  mid-1980s recording by Spectrum, which featured B?©la Fleck and Jimmie Gaudreau.

Spring Creek has prepared a brief video from the studio where they introduce themselves and their music, and jam on the aforementioned In Despair.

They are also interviewed at some length in Daily Camera, a newspaper in Boulder, CO which can be read online.

It may also mark the first time a new band hits the national scene composed entirely of players who studied bluegrass music at South Plains College under the tutelage of Alan Munde and Joe Carr.

Spring Creek is made up of Jessica Smith on bass, Chris Elliott on banjo, Alex Johnstone on mandolin and fiddle, and Tyalor Sims on guitar. All four members contribute vocally, trading off on lead and harmony. They write much of the material they record and perform, and feature a good bit of duet singing.

The band will be at IBMA at the end of this month performing on a variety of showcase stages, and will be in the studio later this fall getting started on their debut CD for Rebel. A Spring 2009 release is anticipated.

You can hear hear audio samples from current releases on the band’s web site or MySpace page.

Their song, High Up in the Mountains, was chosen in the Americana category in this “people’s choice” component of the annual competition, hosted by Music Resource Group. More than 37,000 votes were cast online, and the band tells us that they were the only bluegrass band in this voting category.

The band consists of Chris Elliott on banjo, Alex Johnstone on fiddle and mandolin, Taylor Sims on guitar and Jessica Smith on bass. All four band members sing.

You can hear their winning song on the band’s web site or MySpace page.

Congratulations Spring Creekers!