Records by the Dillards were hard to come by in used records stores. Folks who had them, kept them. I was glad to buy this one when I saw it. I like bluegrass, and they were said to be good. I was shocked to play Roots and Branches and hear something between the Eagles and the Byrds—people called it a lot of things: country rock, back-porch country, contemporary bluegrass, folk rock. It’s okay for what it is, but given my general lack of maturity, I liked Boogie On Reggae Woman by Dillard, Hartman, Dillard more.
So far in this playthrough I think I’ve identified various trajectories for bands/performers (I’ll call them bands or groups because it’s shorter), typically based on the success of their first two or three albums. One path is for the band to get signed and record an album or two with modest success. The record company that signed the group drops it if it doesn’t have a big hit because they expected the band to be the Beatles. Another label will sign them with more realistic expectations. The band can go for a long time doing what works. Sometimes the group will change a bit to get new fans without alienating their current ones. Steve Goodman, for example, tried to be a crooner. It didn’t succeed, and he went back to Chicago folk singer/songwriter. The Dillards seemed to have settled into a comfortable country rock spot and stayed there.
converselyspeaking 