Marc Pruett, Buddy Melton, Darren Nicholson, Tim Surrett and Caleb Smith are Balsam Range, a bluegrass band from North Carolina. They’ve won a string of awards (a long string at that) in the last few years, and when you hear their playing it’s hardly surprising.
‘Richest Man‘ is an upbeat reflection on mortality and the use one puts to life “Richest man in the graveyard got a big old house and a big old yard trophy wife and a bunch of cars and a nice portfolio.” Of course he’s just as dead as the poorest man in the graveyard. Tim Surrett, the band’s bassist, has said of ‘Richest Man‘: “This is one of my personal favourites that we’ve recorded. It’s a wonderful thing to get a song that has both a great message and a memorable musical hook. It seems kind of timely to me also. Why are we stressing so much? We’re all going out the same way that we came in! Remember what’s important.”
