Tennessee Jed

In a world where titles and definitions seem to matter, Jed “Tennessee Jed” Fisher has carved another notch in the bluegrass belt with his own contribution – Pimpgrass. It’s “soul and funk rock crossed with bluegrass and country music, aka: Bluegrass with bling.” And it’s catching on. Jed’s been traveling all across the US performing and recording with an A-list of artists including Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers, Sam Bush Band, Lyle Lovett Band, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Dailey & Vincent, Mountain Heart, and more.

Although originally from Tennessee, Jed now has two home bases, one in North Carolina, the other, Vermont. The album by the same name, Pimpgrass, produced by Scott Vestal (Sam Bush Band) is his third full length record, and there’s already a forth and fifth on the way, One of which will be titled, The Soular Sessions. It will be a solo EP recorded using solar power during a windstorm in the Arizona desert. Vestal commented that Pimpgrass was, “the most fun project I’ve ever been a part of.”

Jed, who’s real name is John, says he’s gone by the name Jed his whole life. “Something my parents gave to me – a combination of letters from my name. But with a name like Tennessee Jed, a lot of people think I perform a Grateful Dead tribute. Although I went through my Dead phase, obviously I’ve expanded my musical pallet sense then,” he said.

Jed started out his musical experience as a hard rocker. “I was learning stuff like the Scorpions and old Black Sabbath,” he recalled. “I went through a lot of musical phases though, and ended up joining a country band – playing with Jason Michael Carroll. “I eventually came up with this weird fusion of music, and my friend Al Al Ingram coined this phrase, soul country pipmgrass, to describe what I was doing. I said, ‘I’m gonna use that.’ I ended up writing a song, and then we made a video, and then a whole album. The name got shortened, and that’s how we got Pimpgrass.”

To find out more, visit
www.tnjed.net