Split Lip Rayfield

The Kansas-based collective Split Lip Rayfield fuses progressive bluegrass and alternative country through a high-octane approach that echoes punk and metal. Their signature sound relies on an entirely acoustic setup featuring a custom one-string bass constructed from an automobile fuel tank. The group issued its debut self-titled album in 1998 and went on to deliver additional studio projects, among them the 2004 release Should Have Seen It Coming, along with multiple live documents. Their sixth studio album, On My Way, appeared in 2017.

Originally an offshoot of Scroat Belly, from which they quickly diverged, Split Lip Rayfield came together in 1995. Core members included guitarist and dobroist Kirk Rundstrom alongside one-string bassist Jeff Eaton, whose instrument—the Stitchgiver—was assembled from the gas tank of a 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis, a length of hickory, and weedwhacker line. Banjoist and vocalist Eric Mardis came aboard after replacing founding member David Lawrence, and the trio launched their recording career with a self-titled LP on the Bloodshot label in 1998. In the Mud arrived the following year, by which point singer and mandolinist Wayne Gottstine had joined, expanding the ensemble to a quartet. Their third album, Never Make It Home, reached stores in late 2000.

Following three years of road work that included opening slots for artists ranging from Del McCoury to Nashville Pussy, the band tracked and issued its fourth album, Should Have Seen It Coming, in 2004. Rundstrom, who had already put out several solo recordings, received a cancer diagnosis in early 2006. He kept performing with the group through ongoing treatment until he passed away in February 2007, roughly a week after his final concert. The 2008 album I'll Be Around was dedicated to his memory. A documentary also titled Never Make It Home, originally conceived as a concert film, instead centered on Rundstrom’s last months and premiered in 2011. The band’s sixth studio album, On My Way, was released in 2017.