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The Wayfaring Strangers
Biography
The band profiled in this bio should not be confused with a European duo that is also called the Wayfaring Strangers; that acoustic twosome (which goes back to 1994) consists of British guitarist/singer Neil Grant and German mandolinist/singer Martin Ahrndt, whereas the Wayfaring Strangers profiled in this bio (who are also acoustic-oriented) are an American collective led by violinist/pianist Matt Glaser. The music of the American Wayfaring Strangers is not easy to categorize. Their work can be loosely defined as progressive bluegrass, Americana, or roots music; some of it is relevant to the alternative country/No Depression scene. But however one chooses to categorize Glaser and his colleagues, their material is certainly far-reaching; the Wayfaring Strangers draw on everything from bluegrass, folk, and country-rock to jazz, world music, blues, and gospel (African-American gospel as well as white country gospel).

They have a lot of old-time influences -- including Bill Monroe, the Carter Family, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, and Bob Dylan's role model, Woody Guthrie -- but the Wayfaring Strangers are hardly a carbon copy of '30s or '40s music. They've been influenced by swing, Dixieland, and classic jazz, but they've also been influenced by modal post-bop jazz (which got started in the late '50s with John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Yusef Lateef).
Selected Discography
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