4/14/2000

    Well, forget preconceived notions when you go to a Sawgrass show.
Traditional bluegrass fans will love the music, but it also appeals to a
different crowd.
    The style of newgrass music, while it has many of the traditional
attributes associated with bluegrass, has a different, innovative sound.
Sawgrass is comprised of four talented individuals, each bringing his own
musical background to the band.
     "People are paying us to do what we love," says Jody Harrison, guitarist
and one of the vocalists. Harrison is originally from Charlotte. N.C. He
works with his family, who owns several different companies, from selling
custom logo apparel to making gel seashell candles. Harrison said that
although he grew up in the "hair band" era, Sam Bush's New Grass Revival
was one of his biggest influences. Jody called Sam Bush "the man" and said
that listening to Bush's band made him redirect his musical efforts. He
enjoys "intense, hard-driving music that gets you on your feet."
Steve Treadaway is the bassist and also a vocalist. Originally from
Baltimore, Treadaway says bluegrass is a big musical movement there. He
credits the popularity to the migration of people from the South to the
North, right around the turn of the century. Steve has worked for the post
office for 25 years. He is also the creator of Sawgrass' website
 where you can hear samplings of the music, see
pictures of them in action, and find out about upcoming concert dates.
Steve said that some of his heaviest influences include the Allman
Brothers, the Steve Miller Band and the Marshall Tucker Band.
Robert Steuer sings and plays the mandolin. Robert is a landscape architect
who owns his own company. He hails from Spartanburg. Steuer said that bands
like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and traditional blues bands had
big influences on his sound. Perhaps that is where the cover songs Sawgrass
does of Old and In the Way songs come from. (For you non-Deadheads, Old and
In the Way was a Jerry Garcia bluegrass project.) "We all have different
things we grew up listening to, and that helps us to have our own Sawgrass
sound," Steuer said.
Last but not least is Sammy Jones, who picks the banjo like no one else and
sings as well. Jones is from a place called Cedar Grove, just outside of
Conway where he runs a custom cabinet carpentry busi-ness. Sammy is more
into "traditional, hard-driving, banjo-style bluegrass."
    Sawgrass has opened for bands such as Blueground Undergrass and Acoustic
Syndicate at SandStones in Garden City. If you enjoy the music of either of
these bands, you'll love Sawgrass.
    Sammy and Robert were the first to meet and play together at Jan's Bar &
Grill during an open mike night. The two ended up playing next to each
other on stage, and immediately something clicked. They found Jody next. He
came to a session with another guitarist who was jamming with Sammy and
Robert. After hearing him play, Sammy and Rob immediately got Jody's phone
number and called him to play later on the same night.  The three of them played together for about a year, the whole time searching for a bassist to complete the quartet. Finally their search was over with Steve, who was the bassist for the Rivertown Blue Grass Society
Band. Rivertown is a once a month concert held at Wall Auditorium at Coastal
Carolina University. Every third Saturday of the month Rivertown meets and
it is the only local organization strictly supportive of bluegrass.   They were asked to headline a show at the Society and asked the director if they
could borrow his bassist. To date Steve has not been returned, and it's
been eight months now.
    Members said that a lot of traditional bluegrass musicians are not very
respectful of the Newgrass genre, preferring old favorites instead. The
subject matters of some of the songs they perform ruffles some feathers
with the traditionalists, such as a cover of the Dead's Friend of the
Devil, in a heavily gospel influenced musical genre.
    Of traditional bluegrass music, each member said that they love it, but
traditionalists need to understand that before Newgrass can be played,
bluegrass must be learned. Newgrass has somewhat of a younger following, as
is evident by the group that comes to many of Sawgrass' shows.
"We don't sound like anyone else, and we want to take that further to
develop a unique sound where fans will say 'Hey, that's Sawgrass!' The
longer we play together the more that will happen," Steuer said.
The past month has been primarily spent working on vocal harmonies. Jody
said that blending the vocals of the four of them has been hard work
because each has a different sound, but they are getting there. If you saw
any of their shows a few months back, you'll notice a big change in song
presentation and vocal harmonies.
    Listen out for Carolina in the Pines, Tobacco Road, and With Care from
Someone to hear some of the band's favorites.
If you don't catch them this weekend, go to Charlie's Night Life on
Wednesday, April 19, for the first Bluegrass Night. Sawgrass will be the
house band for bluegrass night and will be there every Wednesday from here
on out. Support Sawgrass and you support musical innovation at its finest.
Do not miss the opportunity to see one of their performances.
Neal & Pam's Pub is located at 20 S. Ocean Blvd. in Surfside. If you have
any problems finding it call 238-1013