Detour’s Missy Armstrong

Richard Gordon

Detour Bluegrass (L-R): Scott Zylstra (guitar, vocals); Peter Knupfer (fiddle); Jeremy Darrow (bass); Melissa Armstrong (vocals, guitar); Jeff Rose (mandolin, guitar, vocals); Lloyd Douglas (banjo, mandolin, guitar)

The Detour Bluegrass Band (L-R): Scott Zylstra (guitar, vocals); Peter Knupfer (fiddle); Jeremy Darrow (bass); Missy Armstrong (vocals, guitar); Jeff Rose (mandolin, guitar, vocals); Lloyd Douglas (banjo, mandolin, guitar)

Tonight we were pleased to host Missy Armstrong from the band Detour on The Music Room. Detour are a Michigan-based bluegrass band that has put out four CDs and been nominated for the IBMA Emerging Artist award. They play a nice mixture of original music and tastefully arranged older songs.

Since they put our their 3rd CD, A Better Place, Detour has been garnering attention across the US. The combinations of the band’s writing, Missy Armstrong’s singing, and the strength of their instrumental work made the CD a hit with bluegrass audiences and DJs back in 2012.

Their 2014 CD, Going Nowhere Fast, continues the Detour sound with some great songs and tunes. Indeed, Detour were a big hit at the 2014 Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, and the songs from the new CD are also making their mark with audiences across the country.

Missy chatted about her bandmates, the band’s history, the distinctive Detour sound, the band’s day jobs, Etta James, and the work the band does to support charities that work with homeless veterans.

Missy was a lot of fun to chat with, but I think she showed the most pleasure talking about singing “Juliet,” a lover’s murder ballad where the heroine kills the men!

The Interview

Missy Armstrong
(Recorded live 11/4/14; host: Mandorichard), 23:38, 22.7 MB.
Note: Full version of all the tracks were played in the radio broadcast, but, due to copyright considerations, the tracks are excerpted in the podcast version.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • Detour / Train, Train / Going Nowhere Fast / Mountain Fever / 2014 (Excerpt in podcast)
  • Detour / Homeless of the Brave / A Better Place / self / 2012 (Excerpt in podcast)
  • Detour / Juliet / Going Nowhere Fast / Mountain Fever / 2014 (Excerpt in podcast)
  • Detour / Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven / A Better Place / self / 2012 (Excerpt in podcast)