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"Greetings from Jackass Flats"

Purgatory is where a bluegrass soul awaits final purification before moving on to that Grand Ole Opry in the sky. So Purgatory Mountain would be a lofty way station for the nearly righteous.

It is also the name of the second CD by local bluegrass boys, Jackass Flats , although on their mountain you will also find rattlesnakes, moonshiners and some hollers where less pure souls are hiding out.

Their new CD is called " Greetings from Jackass Flats ." It appears they've come down from the mountain. This means one of two things: either they have been purified, or they got tired of waiting and decided to come back down to partake once again in earthly pleasures.

Either way, they are celebrating the release of their new CD with a show at The National this Friday, Aug. 15. Also on the bill are bluesman Terry Garland and Richmond's most infamous mongrel Page Wilson with Reckless Abandon . Guitarist and vocalist Stephen Kuester talked about recording, the new CD and answered some of our questions.

"This is our third CD. Our first was a self-titled CD with half original and half bluegrass tunes. We released 'Purgatory Mountain' in early 2006, which was our first album of all original music.

"The new album, 'Greetings from Jackass Flats' is also all original music. We recorded [the new CD] at Sound of Music , here in Richmond. We love recording. Our first trip into the studio was tough, because we were face to face with what we really sounded like and we struggled to get what we wanted. Now, once we get the tunes written and arranged, we can't wait to flesh out our ideas in the studio. On the new disc, we added some strings to a couple of songs and put down some textured vocals. Hell, we're already thinking about crazy production ideas for the next record."

What is the state of contemporary bluegrass?

Very healthy. New bands keep coming along that continue to push the boundaries and there are bands that preserve the tradition and keep old songs alive.

Do you feel any tension between tradition and the contemporary within bluegrass?

If we play a traditional festival, sometimes we get disapproving glances from the traditionalists, but there are a lot of people who thank us for presenting something different.

What contemporary bands do you like?

In the bluegrass/newgrass genre, I like what Larry Keel does -- he puts so much intensity into his music. We're big fans of Del McCoury too. There are some local bands who really offer up great original music with bluegrass influences, Special Ed and the Shortbus and A Good Natured Riot.

Recently, a Style Magazine reviewer said, "Originality has never been a necessary aspect of bluegrass songwriting." Do you agree or disagree with this?

Unfortunately, a lot of bands in bluegrass keep mining the same clichés over and over again. I think on the surface it certainly sounds like there's a lack of originality, but if you scratch around there's certainly a lot of outstanding songwriting that filters in. Bluegrass is different though. Folks love bluegrass for the picking as much as they do the songwriting.

How important is it to you to have originals?

For Jackass Flats, they're essential. We feel like, more than anything else, [that's] what distinguish[es] us: songwriting.

Influences?

Bill Monroe, Lester and Earl, the Beatles, Wilco, Steve Earle ... you name it. We're influenced by just about every type of music you can imagine. Early on, we wanted to play bluegrass as hard and as fast as we could, chasing the Monroe model, but as our own tunes became central to what we do, we realized there were so many other influences and genres that we wanted to incorporate.

What distinguishes bluegrass as its own unique form?

That's broadened so much over the years. It used to be an ensemble of Scruggs-style 5 string banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, acoustic guitar and stand-up bass. But it seems any form of Americana music that incorporates these instruments is called bluegrass.

Any repercussions from having the word "jackass" in your name?

It's funny you ask. This year we lost a two-night stand because of our name. It was a "family event" sponsored by a major brewery, go figure. We've been asked not to tell audiences who we are, and we've been asked to perform as "Jack Flats." Explaining to these people that a 'jackass' is indeed an animal didn't seem to help, but this was the first year we've had that problem.

Having been born at sea [from their website bios, where it states that Stephen was born at sea], do you know any sea chanteys?

I'm actually originally from New Kent County and I didn't learn any sea chanteys out there, but that's where I first heard the banjo played Scruggs-style and it put a smile on my face immediately.

Jackass Flats play The National this Friday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $13 at the door.