You won’t find any Budweiser or Jack Daniels in this backstage, nor strippers with floss riding up their rears. The strong odor of marijuana is absent, and groupies and roadies are nowhere to be found. This is obviously not a rock ‘n’ roll show.

This is a bluegrass show. A bluegrass show of the utmost quality from a band that sounds like it was born to play the music.

There is no rock star excess backstage. It’s just J.D. Crowe and his band, The New South, poking fun at each other and talking about how they can’t wait to get to Nashville. Wives and a girlfriend pace nervously while exchanging knowing glances.

The occasional fan will pop in from an unmarked door and have J.D. sign something. It’s almost always a banjo.

It’s almost show time and the four band members huddle around each other, instruments in hand. In one fell swoop, they break out into an impromptu bluegrass jam. The tension heightens, the band plays tighter; it’s electrifying. It’s time to go on.

Carl Kiilsgaard is a sophomore photojournalism major from Corvallis, Oregon. Reach him at carl.kiilsgaard@wku.edu.