This week marks an anniversary for me and Cadillac Sky. It was at FloydFest in 2008 when I first saw the band. In the recap of the event then, I said this about the alt-bluegrass band: “I just had never heard of them and didn’t have the highest expectations. But this band blew me away. They could play the traditional stuff with great style and flair, but their originals were truly original, with some experimental instrumentation on occasion. And they were fun!”

And while the band was not back at FloydFest this weekend, the guys are in the area playing Roanoke’s Kirk Avenue Music Hall Thursday, July 29.  The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $20.

The band has had one lineup change since then. The group parted ways with its original guitarist and began the search for “the fifth Beatle, so to speak,” said vocalist and mandolin player Bryan Simpson. Joining Simpson, Matt Menefee (banjo, vocals), Andy Moritz (upright bass, vocals), and Ross Holmes (fiddle, vocals) is David Mayfield.

I saw this lineup last year at Kirk Avenue Music Hall, and Mayfield definitely provides a spark to the group with his nonstop energy (and possible insanity). Simpson said it didn’t take long for Mayfield to fully become assimilated into the band. Besides being an excellent instrumentalist, Mayfield contributes on vocals and in writing songs.

On the band’s newest CD, Letters in the Deep, Mayfield wrote or co-wrote my two favorite tunes, “Hangman” and “Ballad of Restored Confidence.” But it’s tough to cite favorites because the album is filled with quality songs. Produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Letters in the Deep offers 17 songs that, for the most part, were recorded live in Auerbach’s studio in Akron, Ohio.

Ranging from traditional sounds to classical flavoring and most everything in between, Cadillac Sky has created a CD sure to please a wide range of music fans. The band will be bringing many of those songs and other old favorites to its show Thursday night in Roanoke. The band traditionally has an interesting show-stopping cover in its repertoire, too. In the past they have rocked live audiences with The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” and Green Day’s “Basket Case.”

The group’s live shows are full of energy. And for those who appreciate the opportunity to see skilled musicians at work, a Cadillac Sky performance offers a real treat. The instruments associated with the band members above are just the ones they play most often live. Simpson, for instance, says he might be the fourth-best mandolin player in the group! Every band member is a talented multi-instrumentalist.

If you’re already a fan of Cadillac Sky, consider this your reminder that the band is coming to the area. Of course you’ll be there. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the group, if you attend the Thursday show at Kirk Avenue, you’ll be saying the same thing that I said afterward:”This band blew me away!”

Tim W. Jackson is Editor of the New River Voice.