When The Music Room‘s primary host, Mandorichard, started out in radio on WNHU in Connecticut, he found a bluegrass song that literally began with a shotgun blast: “Red Stains” by The Hillbenders, a hot contemporary bluegrass band from Springfield, MO.

Come 2015, and The Hillbenders put out an audacious new release: Tommy: A Bluegrass Opry. Yup, they did a bluegrass version of The Who’s classic Rock Opera. Turns out Pete Townshend loved the project and invited the band to one of his shows in Nashville.

You’ll have to listen to this interview with Nolan Lawrence of The Hillbenders to find out the answers to burning questions like

• Who sang Tina Turner’s part on “Acid Queen”?
• Where’d the band get the idea of doing a version of Tommy?
• Does “Red Stains” tell a true story of heartbreak and murder at the wedding altar?

It’s a fun interview–and if you get a chance to see The Hillbenders, grab it.

The Interview

Nolan Lawrence of The Hillbenders
(Recorded live 5/19/15; host: Mandorichard), 22:32, 21.6 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:
The following playlist reflects the radio broadcast. For the podcast, for copyright reasons, we provide excerpts only of three of the songs.

• Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
• The Hillbenders / Overture / Tommy / 2015 (Excerpt)
• The Hillbenders / Red Stains / Down to my last Dollar / 2011
• The Hillbenders / Pinball Wizard / Tommy / 2015 (Excerpt)
• The Hillbenders / Walking in my Sleep / Can you hear me? / 2013 (Excerpt)