Cast Iron Filter - Live From The Highway

If you haven’t realized that marketing rules the world yet, you must wake up! For example, Pilsner Urquell is apparently the peasant beer in the Czechoslovakia, but importers strategically opted to provide kegs to swanky clubs in NYC only and advertise in “sophisticated” magazines such as GQ. The result? Regardless of the taste, Pilsner Urquell is considered a classy microbrew in the States. Perhaps Natural Light can learn from this business model when exporting internationally. Yes, the laws of marketing apply to musicians as well. There are thousands of rock/bluegrass/jam bands on college campuses across the country with catchy names and lofty dreams, but when the sympathetic ears of your collegiate peers disperse after graduation, so does the joy of being in a celebrated rock band. Unless you have a good marketing director… Case in point: Cast Iron Filter out of Davidson, North Carolina has created their own genre: Irongrass. Such marketing techniques worked for Uncle Tupelo when they created the magazine No Depression and the genre: alt.country. Something new always turns heads, and Irongrass is doing just that. Obviously, the music must measure up to the hype as well. Cast Iron Filter’s first live release titled, Live from the Highway, embodies Irongrass. Imagine the playfulness of String Cheese Incident (“Sgt. Blue Kitty”), the authentic grit of Uncle Tupelo (“SOKY Fair”) and the songs of Bruce Springsteen (“27 Dollars and a Wedding Ring”). Yes, that’s a nice image, but it still doesn’t quite describe Cast Iron Filter. Hell, they claim the only way to truly experience Irongrass is so see Cast Iron Filter perform in concert. Sounds like another marketing technique to me? Marketing or not, Live from the Highway, convincingly advocates for the live Irongrass experience. The songs transform from narratives to compositions to soulful ballads. Although Cast Iron Filter has three previous studio albums, Live from the Highway, is an essential Irongrass recording. [www.castironfilter.com]