Act of Congress is in session at SXSW.

posted in: Artist Features • Country

Alternative Country music is becoming a bit of an industry standard, but it’s a little less common to find that “pop” quality in a bluegrass group. Having only been together for about two years, the band plays as if they were performance legends. Encompassing styles from bluegrass to singer/songwriter, they bring new meaning to the concept of a “unique sound”. We caught up with Chris Griffin of Act of Congress, who said, “We want to build a legit resume by putting out new stuff all the time and making sure we’re playing gigs that help advance us as a band…We’re just [focusing] on creating a ‘catalog’ of interesting content.”

Recently, the band released its debut LP, Declaration. The album showcases the groups genre diversity really well. The opening track, “In the Middle“, starts the CD off in a catchy, melodic way, setting the “pop” mood for the rest of the CD. However, songs like “Not Crazy” and “Five Minutes of Fame” mark the presence of such genres as bluegrass and blues/funk.  Griffin of AOC accredited this diversity on the album to the fact that each member plays with a different style. Act of Congress spent almost 8 months rehearsing and writing before booking just 3 hours in the studio to record the LP with producer Jason Elgin.

Since the album release, AOC has been making waves in the industry. A few of their songs were chosen to be used as music for a professional ballet, and the band was able to perform live with the production in Birmingham, AL. Additionally, they were selected as the 2008 Southeast Grand Prize Winner for the Discmakers Independent Music World Series. The band has also recently written a song that was picked as the theme for an Arrested Development Documentary.

Act of Congress will be playing at SXSW this week. The show is at Mother Egan’s in Austin, TX on March 19th. Check out their fanclub and keep on eye on where their going.