Genres Bluegrass Labels MCA Nashville Genre Bluegrass | Years active 1989 Active from 1989 Albums Telluride Sessions | |
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Past members Béla Fleck
Mark O'Connor
Sam Bush
Jerry Douglas
Edgar Meyer Members Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer |
Strength In Numbers was a bluegrass supergroup formed in the late 1980s. The group featured Béla Fleck (banjo), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, guitar), Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Edgar Meyer (bass). They released their only album, Telluride Sessions, in 1989. The group, minus Fleck, played on "Nothing but a Child" from Steve Earle's 1988 album, Copperhead Road under the name "Telluride".
The catalyst for their progressive approach to bluegrass was Sam Bush's group, New Grass Revival, in 1971. In 1975 this group made their first appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival at Telluride, Colorado. New Grass Revival met at subsequent festivals in Telluride in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The music of Strength in Numbers is influenced by the bluegrass virtuoso music of earlier artists Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Often the music of Strength in Numbers is referred to as "Newgrass" or progressive bluegrass. This music uses core bluegrass instrumentation with rhythmic features and solo playing styles of jazz.
Songs
One Winter's NightTelluride Sessions · 1989
Blue Men of the SaharaTelluride Sessions · 1989
Future ManTelluride Sessions · 1989