After fifteen years, six albums, innumerable sold out shows, and countless libations, Americana mavericks Horseshoes & Hand Grenades appropriately consider themselves a “family” on a wild, wonderful, and often whacky roller coaster. The bond between the quintet— Adam Greuel [guitar, vocals], David C. Lynch [harmonica, accordion, vocals], Collin Mettelka [fiddle, vocals], Russell Pedersen [banjo, vocals], and Samual Odin [bass, vocals]— fuels their creativity and chemistry on stage and in the studio.
“Sometimes, it feels like we’re modern day cowboys on some kind of strange journey,” Adam affirms with a laugh. “We’re five friends who set out to do something we enjoy doing, meet interesting people, see old friends, and make some new buddies along the way. Because of that sense of friendship, everything seems to happen organically. It's been one hell of a ride.”
That’s been the case since these five musicians first met in Stevens Point, WI at college, joined forces, and hit the road harder post-graduation in roughly 2013. They have ignited stages alongside everyone from Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass, Trampled By Turtles, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Railroad Earth, to Merle Haggard and Marty Stuart in addition to appearances at festivals and venues such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Delfest, High Sierra Music Festival, Blue Ox Music Festival, Red Rocks Amphitheater and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
Their six albums—Another Round [2012], This Old Town [2013], Middle Western [2015], The Ode (2018), Miles in Blue (2020), and For Old Time’s Sake (2022) take the listener through a wide range of musical and emotional landscapes, something surely provoked by the five different members all sharing songwriting duties. Their most recent album, For Old Time’s Sake is a 13-track album that celebrates their nearly 15 years together as a band, while nodding to the musical roots that have laid the foundation of the band.
Greuel says, “We always joked about making a “new time, old time” album. At some point we realized it was a pretty good idea and things fell into place for it to happen. Man, we just love making music together. It’s always a fulfilling and interesting process watching one another come up with the parts that make up our sound. We really do our best to honor one another’s musical curiosities, and it feels like that’s what makes us sound uniquely “us”. It’s also just a joy to be able to be yourself, and that’s been something we’ve always tried to keep at the forefront of this band.”