Wood Box Heroes celebrate bluegrass' timeless spirit, expanding mainstream potential

Between them, members of bluegrass supergroup the Wood Box Heroes have twice as many years of experience as awards they've won.

But when considering that they have a combined 100 years of expertise on banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin and upright bass — their status as a 50-time award-winning act before they joined as a unit for their eponymous April-released debut EP makes them more than noteworthy.

Even if you don't know the group's members by face, you know some of them by sound.

For the past three decades, bassist Barry Bales has been the heartbeat of Alison Krauss and Union Station. Plus, he's the co-writer on Chris Stapleton's 2015 hit "Nobody To Blame."

Jenee Fleenor's fiddle often feels like it's singlehandedly maintaining country music's authenticity on mainstream radio. The four-time Country Music Association Musician of the Year is featured on material as diverse as Jon Pardi's "Dirt on My Boots," Sam Hunt's "Hard to Forget" and Cody Johnson's "'Til You Can't."

Moreover, Matt Menefee's classical, jazz and, yes, video game score-inspired banjo stylings served as foundational inspiration for acts that include Mumford and Sons.

"(The Wood Box Heroes) work because it's a natural maturation of our careers and talents," says husky-tenored and wild-haired eastern Kentuckian guitarist and singer Josh Martin.

The group was interviewed by The Tennessean backstage at the Grand Ole Opry before their Opry debut, which received a standing ovation.

Their EP is four months old and just over a year into their time together as a unit. It feels like they've been together for a lifetime.

"Our instruments and voices may differ, but they share a distinctive bluegrass flavor," Martin says.

Playing at events like one at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, Michigan, in 2021, in support of Martin, the quintet's synergy became apparent.

Fleenor says she jokingly told Martin during their set, "This feels like a band,"

She wasn't wrong.

Bales is the group's Grammy and International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning icon whose catalog of recording sessions includes not just Krauss but also playing alongside Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Dwight Yoakum, and Vince Gill.

His skill is spoken about in hushed and reverent tones by his fellow band members. Humbled by the notion, he's fully conscious of his space as a fully engaged band member and inspirational mentor when he speaks.

"As always, I'm just trying to keep (the timing) and play in a good tone with the right note choices," he says. "In the (Wood Box Heroes), it's easy. I'm surrounded by virtuosos with flying fingers who need to feel comfortable on the track to play anything and everything they want."

A classicist who still claims seven-decade-old records from the Stanley Brothers and Flatt and Scruggs as inspiration, he offers that records from '70s-era acts like New Grass Revival (whose influence is present in the Wood Box Heroes) were considered as much an anathema to his conservative upbringing as "bring a bale of [marijuana] into [his home]."

Comparatively — and related to artists inspired by the work of New Grass Revival artists like John Cowan and Bela Fleck — few players may be as progressive in bluegrass as Matt Menefee.

"Songs always kind of develop like a 'Pulp Fiction' of notes for me," the banjo prodigy jokes.

Recalling his early days helping to develop the live performances of groups like Mumford and Sons, he cites discovering the line between being a videogame loving teenager with a banjo-playing grandfather and friends who saw everything from 2Pac to the Smashing Pumpkins in MTV's heyday as the reason his style has such broad influences.

"I think I know every instrumental solo I ever wanted to know and can play it on the banjo," Menefee says.

The EP's standout performance is "This Train," featuring Fleenor in a rare spot as the lead vocalist.

"Golly, we have so much fun, love each other and have a blast when we work together," the fiddle player says.

Fleenor and Martin joined forces on the writing and composition of the song. It originated after Martin lamented during a writing session that while it would feel stereotypically correct for a bluegrass act to have a train song, there may already be too many of them familiar to the genre.

"I'm a session player, but I'm also still a songwriter who desires to perform and be challenged by the craft," Fleenor adds.

When asked about his inclusion in the project, multi-instrumentalist Taylor laughs, and the whimsical nature of the collaboration becomes evident.

"This group is approached with a certain level of reckless abandon," he deadpans before the room laughs.

Martin asked him to play the mandolin in the studio. He's not particularly studied with the instrument.

Still, to the point that the group is ultimately a group of stunningly talented musicians merging their best, authentic selves, he states: "I don't know how it works — or sometimes even what I'm doing — but it works."

Adds Bales: "We're in this band and it sounds incredible and is very successful so far. So we're going to ride this out and whatever's meant to be, will be."

Martin adds an earnest note about the Wood Box Heroes' journey.

"We're not planning out how a lot of this sounds, but when we record music, we're respectful of each others' boundaries," he says. "That allows for the sound to be so dynamic and fit so well together. Bluegrass is best when it bubbles up from the consciousness as honest, organic art.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bluegrass group Wood Box Heroes' debut EP showcases all-star talent