Hear Steep Canyon Rangers Harmonize With Boyz II Men, Asheville Symphony on ‘Be Still Moses’
For their new, Biblically-inspired song "Be Still Moses," Grammy-winning bluegrass group Steep Canyon Rangers called on some unlikely collaborators: The Asheville Symphony and legendary R&B vocal group Boyz II Men. Press play above to sample the team-up for yourself!
Per a press release, Steep Canyon Rangers producer Michael Selverne concocted the plan in order to contrast band member Woody Platt's baritone vocals with the tight arrangements behind Boyz II Men's '90s success. The R&B hitmakers agree that the result was pretty magical.
“We always get this chill when we know we are in the right place,” says Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman. “And we got a few chills working on this project.”
The end result finds two schools of thought on harmony singing and gospel music joining together as one, while backed by a symphony orchestra. However, despite their stylistic differences, Steep Canyon Rangers and Boyz II Men aren't so unlike each other at their musical cores. Both groups strive to keep a more traditional take on their given genre in the current spotlight, be it through bluegrass jams with Steve Martin or the '90s nostalgia circuit.
Overall, it's yet another example of why the right song, arrangement and collaboration obliterates arbitrary genre distinctions, even within the stringent boundaries of hardcore bluegrass.
It's not Boyz II Men's first interaction in 2019 with bluegrass or country music. Earlier this year, the group teamed with Brett Young for an episode of CMT Crossroads. At the 2019 CMT Music Awards, they once again shared the stage with Young.
See Pics of Boyz II Men and Brett Young's Crossroads Collab