Album Review – Mason Via (Self-Titled)

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#520 (Bluegrass) on the Country DDS

Just like traditional country, bluegrass is having big a moment right now. Everywhere you look, promising and enterprising new performers are emerging, and in a fashion that can be hard to keep up with. Mason Via is part of that rising tide, though he’s not exactly the new kid on the block, nor does he feel like just another performer that could get lost in the crowd.

Combining adept flat-picking with top-caliber songwriting and a voice perfectly tooled for bluegrass, Mason Via brings an accessibility and immediacy to the music that sometimes can be missing from the bluegrass discipline. And with his sophomore album smartly self-titled, Mason Via defines himself as a performer who is perfect for seizing the present, while seeding a promising future.

As intrepid and inspiring as bluegrass can be, sometimes it can also feel like you’re witnessing a skills competition. And with the improvisation of artists like Billy Strings and such, it can go off in directions that are just a little too esoteric for the casual listener, or for just a casual listen. That’s not the Mason Via experience. Though he can pick with the best with them, his focus is telling stories and evoking feelings in his songs, while gracing them with the timeless appeal of bluegrass.

Similar to what Molly Tuttle has done in her Golden Highway era (Via wrote a song with Tuttle for her last album), Mason is bringing a strong song-first approach to bluegrass. The opening song “Wide Open” has big, succulent melody like your favorite country songs. The breakneck moonshiner song “There Goes Another One” taps into that infectious tempo like only a great bluegrass song can. There’s even a song called “Fireball” that with a different production approach could be a hit on country radio.


But don’t worry if you also like your bluegrass to be somewhat grounded in the traditions, and reverent to its history. “Oh Lordy Me” with Ronnie Bowman and Junior Sisk joining in could fool you as being a 50-year-old bluegrass classic. But like all the tracks on the album, it was co-written by Mason. “Running With You” shows off Via’s sweet and romantic side, while “Falling” is a more progress bluegrass approach.

As you’re listening through the record, you might find yourself waging your own internal debate. Is it the songwriting that sees Mason Via distinguish himself above the roar of bluegrass noise? Is it the way his slightly higher-pitched voice nestles so perfectly in the bluegrass approach that makes these songs render so sweetly? Or is it just that timeless appeal of traditional bluegrass that he taps into with such vigor and enthusiasm that makes it feel so fresh and new?

Mason Via grew up in Virginia and North Carolina going to bluegrass festivals and competitions, and his father was a bluegrass vocalist as well. He released a debut album New Horizons in 2022 that earned some attention, but decided to join up with Old Crow Medicine Show for a few years to expand his resume and tack some more skins on the wall. But with this self-titled release, Mason Via vaults himself into the discussion as one of the top-rising names in bluegrass.

8.1/10

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