🎟 Grateful Dead, Yonder Mountain, Greensky Bluegrass 🎵
“We hope our audiences get a chance to escape the confines of time and the pressures of modern life” explains Jesse Iaquinto of Fireside Collective, “We prioritize groove so our listeners can dance and let loose. The pinnacle is when we all transcend our individual selves, both onstage and in the audience, and become one entity experiencing the precious nature of life. We are all one, and music allows us to experience that.” Inspired by the burgeoning art scene, close knit community, and natural beauty of Asheville, North Carolina, newgrass turned eclectic jam band Fireside Collective has been spent a decade working towards this very pinnacle. Original band members Joe Cicero, guitar, Jesse Iaquinto, mandolin, Tommy Maher, resonator guitar, and Carson White, bass, began playing together in 2014 when Iaquinto gathered the group of bluegrass enthusiasts to back up some of his original songwriting. At the time, Iaquinto was waiting tables at the Biltmore Estate and studying early folk and country music, Cicero, Maher and White were similarly balancing odd jobs and college classes while diving deep into roots music. When the band first began, they hoped to integrate elements of bluegrass, folk and acoustic music, but focus mainly on original songs and compositions. But a few years in, the band took a hard dive into bluegrass and newgrass, inspired by Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, and Bela Fleck among others. Fireside Collective spent years touring the bluegrass circuit, playing bluegrass festivals, and attending the IBMA conference and awards shows. They saw relatively quick success, winning the 2016 band contest at MerleFest, and charting #3 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts with their 2020 release, “Elements”. But the Covid pandemic gave the band a chance to stop, reflect, and move forward with intention. While many bands disintegrated during the long and challenging pause in live music, Fireside Collective took the opportunity to reimagine their future as a band.
