Gooder ’n Grits is a local West Michigan old-time band that has a Southern orientation without the twang or drawl. Focusing on the pre-bluegrass era of the Carolinas, we play fiddle and banjo in the Round Peak style made famous by Tommy Jarrell and others.
We have two banjo players who clog and flatfoot, two fiddlers, and two married couples whose lives have overlapped in many ways.
This music could be considered sentimental because its simpler, elemental Mayberry-era sound harks back to a time when people could sit on their front porches playing music or spend a Saturday night going to dances. But these tunes and songs of love’s innocence, humor, and hope for the future have a rightful place in today’s entertainment-saturated society.
The music still resonates in our collective memories, rich and sweet and lovely.
We practice real hard, so we know we’ll be Gooder than Grits.
Is an Old Time String Band that is inspired by the centuries old fiddle tunes of the upper south. Truly mountain music that is having a revival in the neo rural and urban folk bands. Two banjos, fiddle, guitar and bass bring you back a hundred years to when your family and neighbors gathered on Saturday for food music and dance. The hilarious songs take you aback at their rural universality,
Beware clogging, or flatfoot dancing may break out. A square dance could commence with the energy that emanates from these simple forms. They are definitely Gooder than Grits.
