Nothin' Fancy - Recordings

Recordings

East Coast Bluegrass Band released four self-produced albums. They then contracted Tim Austin of Doobie Shea Studios to produce and record the project. Recording began in February 1996. Later that spring, lightning struck and destroyed the studio and all the recorded sessions. Once it was up and running again they were one of the first acts to record in the new studio. After four albums, thirteen years, and hundreds of performances, the band released their first nationally-distributed recording project, Life's Mysteries on Copper Creek Records.

The group, now appearing as Nothin' Fancy, was approached by Pinecastle Records and signed to the label in 2002. They recorded their fifth project, "Once Upon a Road" with the title song written for the band by Tom T. Hall and his wife Dixie. "Once Upon a Road" rose to number 10 on the Bluegrass Charts as posted by Bluegrass Unlimited. Their bluegrass gospel song "When the Angels Take My Hand" rose to the Number 1 spot on the Bluegrass Gospel charts as posted by (the now-defunct) Bluegrass Now magazine. The album also earned them a showcase at the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Convention in October 2002 and a nomination for the IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year Award.

Their sixth album, "Reflections," was a much more personal album, with Andes penning 10 of the 13 songs. It featured the novelty single "I Met My Baby in the Porta-John Line" as a bonus track, also by Andes. "Reflections" was not as commercially successful as "Once Upon a Road," but it was from these two albums and the performances from this period that Nothin' Fancy had found its highly unique voice, which paid homage to bands such as the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene. The late Charlie Waller, a founding member of the Country Gentlemen who went on to lead that group until his death in 2004, met with Andes at the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America annual convention and learned the song "Heaven Got an Angel" from Andes (that was recorded originally on "Field of Dreams") and recorded it on the Country Gentlemen album "Cryin' in the Chapel."

Their eighth album, Lord Bless This House, the first all-gospel recording for the group, was officially released January 27, 2009 through Pinecastle. Co-produced by Grammy-nominated bluegrass artist Rhonda Vincent and her brother Darrin Vincent (of Dailey and Vincent fame) with guest appearances from the both of them, it is frequently played on Sirius XM Radio's Bluegrass Junction station, along with other selections from their discography.