Scott Roberts often dons waders for his day job as a biologist. He uses a mandolin for his other gig, playing in a bluegrass group called the Sweetwater String Band.
Bluegrass and biology research both are conducive to mountain environments, where Roberts has spent much of his life.
“I lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains but it seems like the music scene in Colorado is even hotter,” said Roberts, whose Sweetwater String Band was formed at Mammoth Lakes.
The band returns to the Sierra Nevada on Monday, April 6 at Moe’s BBQ in Tahoe City. The show starts at 7 p.m.
Roberts’ relocation to Durango, Colo., could have broken up the band. Instead, it made it more focused.
“It may be a blessing in disguise because when we do get together we have more direction,” Roberts said. “We picked it up a step by being more apart geographically.”
David Huebner plays cello, Jeff Meadway the guitar and Patrick Ferguson bass.
The band recently released its second album, “Rhythm of Rhymes,” after recording sessions in December 2013 and April 2014.
“The first one (released in 2011) was representative of the way we started with dance music and as a band that could show everybody a great time,” Roberts said. “I think we’ve kept that vibe alive but with the new record I think the music and the songwriting is a little more developed, richer more diverse. We’ve incorporated that good, upbeat dance music but also added some more thought-provoking and serious lyrics that make the songs more powerful.”
And even more new music is being played at its live shows, he said.
No matter the mountain range, bluegrass music rise in popularity is obvious. Roberts attributes this to bluegrass being featured in the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou” and the a subsequent arena tour, seminal sounds featured and major festivals, especially Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and a demand for organic music in response to electronic and techno.
Robert said he was inspired by the portability of the instruments and the resonance of their unamplified sounds.
“This genre of music can be played in any room,” he said. “It can be played in an arena, a theater, a bar, but it can also be played on back porch, a front porch or a farm, on street corner and it sounds the same, if not better, acoustic.”
Here’s a video shot at Whaleshead Beach, Oregon. The song is “The Weather She Breaks.”
