Photo by Alex Culbreth
Left to Right: Josiah Nelson, Sam Wilson, Drury Anderson and Luke Black. 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 joined forces with Coloradan musician Josiah Nelson to form a dynamic bluegrass ensemble. The group is set to perform at Iron City Bham on Dec. 27.
Black (guitar, vocals), Anderson (mandolin, vocals) and Wilson (bass, vocals) originally formed the band, then 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 when looking at colleges. ETSU is home to a Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies program.
“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,” said Black. “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 were touring during the summer of 2022 and passed through Asheville, N.C., roughly an hour from ETSU’s campus in Johnson City, Tenn. They asked Nelson to sit in on the fiddle for a performance, and the rest is history. Nelson joined the band full time last year.
The boys have gone on to tour across the country, playing roughly 50 shows last summer. They have performed in several festivals, including the Billy Strings Renewal Festival, and have even opened for Tyler Childers. Up next, they plan to make a trip to Canada in February and have a slew of shows across the U.S. in 2025.
To see them at Iron City Bham on Dec. 27, tickets are $27 and can be found at https://ironcitybham.com/event/the-mountain-grass-unit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. The show begins at 8 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m.
