David Lee Roth = Bluegrass?

OK... I've been meaning to post about this for a couple weeks... but life has been getting in the way of my blogging lately. **sorry**

A couple weeks ago, John and I were flippin' through the channels and ran across a very cleaned up David Lee Roth being interviewed by Leno. The "gee whiz" curiousity meter went off and we stopped to see what the rocker is up to lately.

Well... after a few minutes of listening to his experiences over the past few years as an EMT... in NYC I think... the topic turned to his new musical direction.

David Lee Roth is featured on a bluegrass CD of VanHalen songs.

Yes.

You read correctly.

Bluegrass.

And, soon he would be performing a preview of his new musical endeavor... a bluegrass version of "Jump".

This of course prompted us to continue watching through the commercials.

First let me say... the band was incredible. And... I'm not sure, but I think I know the bass player (Charlie) from gigs in Nashville. And, believe it or not... the arrangement of "Jump" actually sounded great as a bluegrass song.

But then, David began to sing. It was really kind of strange. Imagine his voice over bluegrass music... singing a stiff version of his 80s power rock song. Now, multiply that by 100.

It was awful.

Besides that, he was just tryin' too hard to be straight. It was uncomfortable to watch (this is link to the Leno performance on YouTube).

All this said...

While the songs may lend themselves to bluegrass arrangements... David Lee Roth is NOT bluegrass.

Mystery solved.

But... that doesn't mean the entire album sucks.

Remember: When loading your iPod / MP3 player, you can skip the tracks of "Strummin' with the Devil" that have David on them.

After listening to the album tracks online, the rest of the songs sound pretty kickin'. It's got some stellar, legitimate country / bluegrass musicians like The John Cowan Band (of New Grass Revival), John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band, Iron Horse, Larry Cordle... and more... performing the rest of the VanHalen hits.