Shadowgrass Gets Their Bluegrass On At Pearl Street Warehouse

Shadowgrass–an incredibly talented up-and-coming bluegrass band–took the stage at the District Wharf’s Pearl Street Warehouse on a warm, humid evening on May 7, 2023, during the band’s first headlining tour.

Pearl Street’s rolled-up garage door-style windows allowed the music to drift onto the patio, and as Shadowgrass took the stage, a woman from the crowd called out, “Welcome to D.C.!” which brought smiles to the band’s faces. From the first notes from their instruments rang out, the crowd hollered and stomped their feet along with the thumping bass line.

Composed of Kyser George (guitar), Luke Morris (mandolin), Clay Russell (banjo), Evan Campfield  (bass), and Madison Morris (fiddle), Shadowgrass quickly rose to prominence last summer after a series of Instagram reels they posted went viral–including one video of an impromptu performance with Billy Strings. The future is exceptionally bright for this group of young musicians. While Shadowgrass is young (Kyser George is so young that he has Xs on his hands, showing he can’t even buy a beer at the bar.), they are incredibly talented as individuals and as a group. Each member of the band is a developing virtuoso, with each one more impressive than the last. When they improvise, they are spectacular listeners–remaining patient and letting jams slowly and organically develop to a euphoric peak. Still, they also know when to stomp on the gas to get the crowd going during those high-test bluegrass jams. 

Shadowgrass showed off their chops on a variety of songs over two sets, including bluegrass standards–like Freeborn Man and Old Home Place, classic rock covers–like the Allman Brothers’ Midnight Rider and Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, and modern classics–like the viral Midnight in Harlem by the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. They also impressively covered two songs off David Grisman Quintet’s self-titled album: 16/16 and E.M.D. The Quintet’s signature gypsy-jazz bluegrass style is notoriously intricate and challenging to play, and these young pickers tackled it with the precision and grace of seasoned veterans. They closed out the second set with a fiery original called Carl’s Breakdown, a fun and upbeat tune about the banjo player Clay Russell’s lost pet turtle.

Shadowgrass is definitely a band to keep an eye out for in the future. They have the musical chops to go the distance, and some of the best bluegrass musicians in the scene–Billy Strings and the Infamous Stringdusters’ Jeremy Garrett–have been supporting their blossoming career.   If you love bluegrass, watch their tour schedule for dates around DC and the DMV because it will become increasingly hard to see them as their popularity soars.