Photo by Alex Culbreth.
Mountain Grass Unit is made up of Mountain Brook natives Luke Black, Drury Anderson and Sam Wilson and Coloradan musician Josiah Nelson.
Mountain Brook natives Luke Black, Drury Anderson and Sam Wilson have teamed up with Colorado musician Josiah Nelson to form a dynamic bluegrass ensemble.
Black (guitar, vocals), Anderson (mandolin, vocals) and Wilson (bass, vocals) all began playing music at a young age and originally formed the band — under a different name — in 2018 while they were students at Mountain Brook Junior High.
Nelson, who attended and now teaches at East Tennessee State University, joined the group after Black toured ETSU while considering colleges.
“I met Josiah at ETSU because the guy who runs the program there is super kind. His name is Dan Boner, and he just literally sent me Josiah’s contact,” Black said. “He was like, ‘Hey, text this guy if you want to have a good jam set up.’ So I texted Josiah and was like, ‘Hey, man, I’m a visiting student. You want to set up a jam?’ He was like, ‘Sure, here’s my address.’ And my dad just dropped me off at Josiah’s house.”
After that, Black, Anderson and Wilson passed through Asheville, North Carolina, while touring during the summer of 2022. Just an hour from ETSU’s campus, they invited Nelson to sit in for a performance. He joined the band full-time last year.
Black and Anderson are pursuing degrees in music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Wilson resides in Tuscaloosa, where he is a finance major at the University of Alabama. With the group living in three different states, practicing presents challenges.
“What we try to do is, when we’re trying to work on new, original stuff, we always say get it like, 50 to 75% done,” Wilson said. “Basically, it’s have the framework of the idea and structure of the song that you kind of have in mind, and then we bring it to the group and we workshop it.”
Despite the distance, the group often operates on the same wavelength.
“We just kind of get it,” said Nelson. “If someone has an idea, we all kind of just get what they’re saying. It’s not like you have to overexplain anything.”
During the school year, the band gets together when possible to work on music or perform. Summer is their prime time for touring and a chance for them to take their childhood experiences to a larger stage.
“I grew up going to a bluegrass festival my entire life, and I sort of got a taste for the industry, of what it’s like to make money, play music,” Anderson said. “I always enjoyed going around and busking around that festival and finding joy in people sitting back and listening. It’s a rewarding thing to play for people and know that they’re enjoying it.”
They played roughly 50 shows last summer, have performed at several festivals — including the Billy Strings Renewal Festival — and have opened for Tyler Childers. Most recently, they played at Iron City Bham. Up next, they plan to visit Canada in February and have a slew of shows across the U.S. in 2025.
