Estación 39 is an ideal example of a band that hails from environs well outside US borders, but still stays true to those musical traditions birthed in the American heartland. Based in Buenos Aires Argentina, the band — which includes Matt Giliberto (vocals and guitar), Nuala McLoughlin (vocals and fiddle), Juma Molina (banjo and backing vocals), Dani Boy W (mandolin and backing vocals), Irina Rabenstein (upright bass and backing vocals) — makes music spawned from a rarified traditional template, but shaped with their own individual imprint.
“We try to sound classic, like the old bluegrass bands, singing into a microphone, like Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers or the Stanley Brothers,” they told Bluegrass Today when profiled for a Bluegrass Beyond Borders feature. “We know that not being native the sound isn’t going to be the same, and I think that gives something exotic to our sound that makes it interesting. Between the five of us we gather various influences, some shared, like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Osborne Brothers, New Grass Revival, The Dillards, Hot Rize, Bluegrass Album Band. Also Béla Fleck, Brittany Haas, Billy Strings, Punch Brothers, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Allison Krauss and more.”
The band is so confident and comfortable in fact, that each of the seven songs on this new EP could give rise to the suspicion that in another life anyway, they’re a product of some rural realms. Indeed, if one didn’t know better, it would be easy to come to that conclusion based on their choice of material alone. The band’s take on the seminal standard, Shady Grove, and their whimsical cover of, of all things, The Ballad Of Jed Clampett — the latter sung in a charming native dialect with various humorous asides tossed in as well — managed to find an easy and otherwise unassuming fit.
They aren’t the only examples of the band’s ease at replicating that bluegrass sound. Fox On the Run takes a fanciful turn, while the rousing title track offers an opportunity to deliver an impressive instrumental outing.
Though it’s only seven songs long, ETIGBA provides an exceptional showcase for Estación 39’s earnest endeavors. Clearly, they’re a band that’s entirely committed to delivering bluegrass, courtesy of their own individual instincts.
