Beacons of Hope and Light from Nefesh Mountain

In the four years between albums, a lot has happened for the idiosyncratic, boundary-pushing bluegrass/roots band Nefesh Mountain.

“It's hard to pick up the phone and not just feel constantly affected by this world and this growing tension and divide in our country," says guitarist/banjoist/singer/songwriter Eric Lindberg, who fronts the band with his wife, vocalist and songwriter Doni Zasloff. “There's global things going on and there's wars," he laments.

But the state of the world has not driven them to despair or hopelessness. Instead, it inspired an honest, optimistic, multi-genre double album that showcases top-tier bluegrass musicians and Lindberg's and Zasloff's poignant songwriting.

"Beacons is the name of the album, and the songs are supposed to be 18 little candles," Lindberg explains. "Little beacons of light that are reminders for my wife and I to stick to our own path and to see the bright side and to be grateful.”

Zasloff says Beacons came together quickly in early 2024, though it was a long time between albums.

“Eric looked at me right after New Year's Eve and said we're gonna do this album, and I said ‘Are you crazy? We have three kids. How are we gonna make this happen?’ And then I would say by April we were in the studio making this album, so Eric was on fire and inspired for those three months.”

While previous albums have featured Lindberg’s striking banjo playing, Beacons also allowed him to play the electric guitar, his primary instrument before bluegrass. The musical palette on Beacons is wider because one disc features bluegrass and the other features Americana music.

“We just decided that this album was bigger than the genre or anything specific and that we were gonna throw out the rulebook,” Lindberg says. “We decided that these songs would really live together on two separate things, paying homage to both the bluegrass that people know us for and that we love, and then also this new direction on the Americana disc that is sort of a blues jazz kind of jam direction.”

Zasloff says she grew up hearing all kinds of music and toured extensively as a performer of children’s music. “I would say meeting Eric really opened the floodgates of bluegrass, and I fell in love with the genre, and fell as deeply in love with it as I did with him, and we started this journey together.”

Nefesh Mountain’s bluegrass music is rooted in the couple’s background and heritage as Jewish Americans. “Nefesh” means “soul” in Hebrew, as Zasloff explained at a recent concert. “We’re just trying to create a little Nefesh mountain universe where everyone is free to be themself and loved for exactly who they are,” she continued.

“On our first album, we recorded some songs that are actual prayers,” Lindberg continues. “We want to do something good for the world. And it sounds a little corny, but when we walk around and when we travel, you can tell people are feeling lonely and a little heartbroken and divided. It's a lonely time, and it's my responsibility to not just write music that is self-serving, but to really try to give something back. And I really feel that's something that being Jewish has always taught me. It's not about us. It's about giving back to our community.”

The bluegrass cuts on Beacons include A-list musicians Stuart Duncan, Rob McCoury, and Mark Schatz. Lindberg says that over several projects, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush have become especially cherished collaborators.

“I love those guys with all of my heart,” he says. “I write some challenging stuff at times, and they're always up for it. One of the huge gifts of my life is getting to know them. It's amazing.”

For Nefesh Mountain’s ambitious, year-round touring Lindberg and Zasloff have assembled a collective of gifted musicians who rotate in and out of the band as schedules permit. They’ve recruited instrumentalists who can play all the kinds of music featured on Beacons. It’s the music that they want to play and that their fans want to hear.

“My dream for the band is that there's sort of this kind of blues band rhythm section that on a dime can switch and we’re a bluegrass band,” Lindberg explains. “And then we really get to explore all of those things that I love, and I'm finding that a lot of folks out there really love, too.

“The 18 songs on Beacons are about remembering that this life is just yours and that there's no rules,” Lindberg says. “Just follow your own flow of the river, and good things will happen. And for us, it’s been really super exciting to play in this kind of multi-genre format. We're just gonna keep following the river and following our hearts because that’s what’s going to make us happy.”