Lead singer Carolyn Routh of Nu-Blu said “bending the boundaries” of bluegrass music is a key tenet for her band.
“We play some straight-forward, driving Carolina-style bluegrass, but we also kind of add our own flavor into most of it,” Routh said in a recent phone interview.
North Carolina-based Nu-Blu brings its American roots fare to Valparaiso’s Chicago Street Theatre for a 7:30 p.m. April 22 concert.
Nu-Blu is on its “Vagabonds” tour, named after the band’s 2017 album.
Routh said the whole CD is really about her group’s journeys and “the people we’ve met and the places we’ve been and just the great life we’re living.”
She noted that Nu-Blu are road warriors: “We tour over 200 days a year.”
The core of the group is Routh and her husband Daniel, a guitarist who contributes vocals.
“I love that we get to wake up someplace different every day,” he said in the band’s promotional material. “We meet people from all over the country.”
Kicking off its run in 2003, Nu-Blu has prospered by embracing diversity in its offerings and choosing material that it believes in.
“We do some country; we even do a few rock covers,” Carolyn Routh said. “Daniel and myself started out playing together in a Christian band — Christian rock. And I’m very fond of ’80s rock, and he is too. And some of the older country and new musical influences come into play too.”
The music is “very lively and a lot of it’s upbeat, but there’s some really slow heart-jerkers too,” said Routh, who also plays upright electric bass. “We like to mix things up. We try to pick out songs that we have an emotional connection with, something that touches us. And we do that hoping that that’ll convey to the audience too.”
With “Vagabonds,” Routh and her multi-instrumentalist husband tug at emotions with “A Lot More Love,” a poignant call to help heal a polarized America.
Feisty in nature, the banjo-driven track “Still Small Voice” uses a “let me hear you scream” refrain as a call to personal resurrection.
A crowning achievement for Nu-Blu was its gospel-tinged single “Jesus and Jones,” which found Routh sharing vocals with Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, known for the 1960s rhythm-and-blues classics “Soul Man” and “I Thank You.”
Touted in biographical material as embodying “the American working band,” Nu-Blu reminds audiences of vintage Appalachian music, while also tipping its hat to one of rock ‘n’ roll’s icons on “Vagabonds,” the band’s sixth full-length studio album.
Bob Dylan’s somber “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” adds to Nu-Blu’s reputation for experimental creativity.
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Nu-Blu, meanwhile, is eyeing a follow-up to “Still Small Voice” as promotion of “Vagabonds” continues. “We’re getting ready to release a second single very soon now,” said Routh, a resident of Siler City, N.C.
Nu-Blu also features Justin Harrison on mandolin and Calder Baker on banjo. Both have recently joined the band.
The quartet is making an appearance on a Sunday night that is part of Chicago Street Theatre’s “One Night Jam” series.
Through the years, the series has presented eclectic music in an intimate setting that has swung from rock to blues to folk, while also dishing fare representative of the Celtic and flamenco genres.
The April 22 Nu-Blu concert has $40 VIP couch seats available that include a souvenir 8×10 photo with the band.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Nu-Blu
When: 7:30 p.m. April 22
Where: Chicago Street Theatre, 154 W. Chicago St., Valparaiso
Tickets: $20, $40
Information: 219-464-1636, ext. 1; www.chicagostreet.org