being nominated, you’re a winner. Just to be mentioned
with those other names is a huge deal for us. We never
thought we would win an award,” explains Darren.
So many experiences have surpassed the band’s wildest
dreams – playing the Grand Ole Opry, joining Earl
Scruggs on stage, being a part of the Zac Brown Tour,
and even doing a movie with a Jonas Brother. “We’ve
been able to see so many cool places together – the
Rockies, Canada, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland…
and Alabama,” Caleb laughs. The group remains humble,
and success still comes as a surprise. “It still feels weird
sometimes,” explains Buddy. “We weren’t trying to make
this happen. I went to college; I had a whole other career
path. This was a hobby. It was like fishing or hunting or
other hobbies that so many people have, and I have
way too many. This is another hobby. Playing bluegrass
music in this particular area of Western North Carolina,
Haywood County, there was a lot of it going on. There
was always a jam on the weekend at somebody’s house
or Pickin’ in the Park, and it was just a fun pastime, hobby
kind of thing. We weren’t trying to do this, and it just sort
of presented itself and created its own snowball effect
and just kept going. I still, even this far into it, say to
myself ‘I can’t believe we’re still doing this.’”
But the road has not come easy for the band. It’s agreed
that the biggest misconception of Balsam Range is that
it’s all fun and games. “All they see is the hour that we’re
on stage,” explains Caleb. “They don’t see the 16 or 18
hours it took us to get there. Or trying to get our week
lined up individually so we can feel somewhat ok about
leaving our families to perform for these people. It
takes a lot of work. But, we’re all friends. We’re all in it
together.” Buddy agrees and says, “If you’re going to be
in bluegrass music, you better have a sense of humor.”
Tim adds, “The amount of travel that you do…man the
run this weekend, it was brutal. But, if you can laugh for
a large portion of it, it makes it so much better. There’s
stuff that happened in 2007 that we still laugh about
today.” For Darren, he believes it is all a bit of a paradox.
“If you can’t laugh about it, it gets really depressing.
You’re pouring your heart and soul out doing this music,
and you’re performing in a barbecue restaurant or at
a chicken wing stand. You’re creating this art, but you’re
the entertainment. You’re like the juggler in the corner,”
he says. “The bottom line is there is a lot of hard work
that goes into this career. There have been a lot of ups
and downs with the whole thing, but we’re still doing it.
We’re still making music. People come up and say they’re
impacted by our music. The crazy hard moments make
the good moments that much sweeter.”
Balsam Range continues to work well together. The
founding members from 2007 are the same five guys
in the band today. They operate much like a family, and
communication is key to keeping them all on the same
page. “If you look at music, bands change frequently.
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