Balsam Range Mountain Overture

Balsam Range is traversing the
musical landscape from their acoustic,
award-winning Mountain Voodoo to
that of the orchestral with their newest
work, Mountain Overture, a recording
that transforms the band's most-loved
songs from their first decade of
recordings and features the Atlanta
Pops Orchestra Ensemble. It's an
epic new branch of their music that
captures not a new but an additional
direction. With an augmented version
of the Balsam Range Bluegrass sound,
Mountain Overture becomes the
band's album of greatest hits, plus!
“Balsam Range is a five-piece acoustic
band. We all share the love for the arts
and all the music forms that contribute
to that title,” says lead vocalist and
IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, Buddy
Melton.“ To hear our music performed
with the support of the Atlanta Pops
Orchestra Ensemble is a big and
beautiful sound, and it opens the mind
to the understanding that all music is
connected.”
The music scores, arranged by Wes
Funderburk and Shelley Washington,
do just that. They lift the heartfelt tale
of “Trains I Missed” (IBMA 2011 Song
of the Year), intensify the sentimental
longing of “Blue Mountain,” and draw
out the melancholia of “I Hear the
Mountains.”
Each work is made new by pulling
together the rustic and the symphonic.
It seamlessly combines the authenticity
of Balsam Range's traditional
approach with string, brass, woodwind
and percussion sections. Its effect
is profound—elevating “Matthew,”
“Jack Diamond,” “From a Georgia
Battlefield,” “Last Train to Kitty
Hawk,” “Eldorado Blue,” “Burning
Georgia Down,” and “Any Old Road
(Will Take You There)” to new heights.
With its ability to break new ground
by combining these two musical
worlds, Mountain Overture is a true
prelude for things to come for this
celebrated band.
“Collaborating with Balsam Range has
been a highlight in the 73-year history
of the Atlanta Pops. Through expert
musical arrangements, virtuosic playing
and singing, and a most genuine
camaraderie, I think we may have
discovered an exciting new genre!”
says Atlanta Pops Orchestra Ensemble
Assistant Conductor Tom Gibson.
“We're very excited for audiences to
hear what we've discovered. They
have such a polished ease in performance,
and such a heart-warming
openness with their audience...this
has been wonderful to witness. And a
blessing to emulate. They make music
in the most sincere way possible, and
blending our sounds has been
exhilarating.”