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Even though DIG/ DIG Country seem to like them, I don't see what all the fuss is about the Wilson Pickers. They seem to be a bunch of young guys who play rock and pop music who think bluegrass and country music is all about dumb hillbillys and a few 'yee hahs' - and therefore, easy to play. In contrast with 'real' bluegrass, their music lacks 'the high lonesome sound' that Buill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, etc. made the defining character of the music, along with technically brilliant musicianship.

Jon is right. There are a lot of acts emerging that say bluegrass or roots or pickers and who are nothing more than guitar casuals and front bar rockers. Strumming a few guitar chords isn't enough. Where are the banjo and fiddle pickers and the three part harmony? Where is the gospel quartet? Where is the high lonesome sound? Where are the ancient tones?

I think these guys are great and a breath of fresh air in a market that lacks variety.

I agree that these guys don't fit into the bluegrass genre, but that in no way takes away from what they do. I'm sure that they have bluegrass CDs in their collections and have a healthy respect for them. My guess is that they've come from a rock/pop background and have been pulled by bluegrass towards creating acoustic driven music that tips its hat to bluegrass, but is not bluegrass in and of itself.

I play in a band that fuses bluegrass with alt-country influences (you don't get pedal steel in most bluegrass bands). Whilst at times we've angst about the fact that we're not true bluegrass, we have been welcomed, supported and highly encouraged by the bluegrass community in Australia and look forward to continue being influenced by them.

the wilson pickers rule full stop! they dont profess they are a bluegrass band, quite the opposite actually. they just play bluegrass style instuments and put their own stamp on it. good on em i say.