Music

It took four albums for the Greencards to shed the bluegrass tag. The one-time Austin-based trio of Carol Young, Kym Warner and Eamon McLoughlin, who all have been living in Nashville for about four years, accomplished that feat with Fascination, their newest and most expansive effort.

Fascination, produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Patty Griffin, John Hiatt), boldly moves the Greencards into stylistically nebulous but creatively rewarding territory. The album takes the group's panoramic acoustic music fueled by mandolin, guitar, violin, cello, bass, viola, ukulele and xylophone then embellishes it with percussion, Autoharp and broomsticks.

Warner, 34, says the sonic direction of Fascination began once he and his band mates wrote the CD's title cut, a heavily percussive, rhythmic number with an almost haunting vocal performance by Young.

"This really dictated the writing process," Warner says by phone from a tour stop in Denver. "It was a template. Fascination led the path to the creative process. It was evident to us that it was different, quirky and it really fit the band. We recorded it the day after we wrote it. It sounded great. It sounded like the band, but it was different."

That's not the only experimental tune on the disc. "Into the Blue" is all about atmospheric musical textures. The string work on the cut takes on a mystic aura while Young's voice sounds cosmic, as if she's singing from outer space.

Warner makes no apologies for the audible shift, which at times teeters between heartland pop and folkie rock.

"This album, more than anything, we got it right," he says, "and we're excited about what we came up with this time. We've never been just a bluegrass band. We've never had a three-string banjo."

That's true. Plus, the about-face isn't so surprising if you heard the Greencards' last CD, 2007's Viridian. In retrospect, Viridian seemed like the blueprint for Fascination.

"With Viridian we tried different stuff. You come across things that work ... you try to be unique. But Fascination is a fresh album with a new idea," Warner says. "We still have a sensibility to acoustic music, but we weren't going to hold back with this record. We didn't want to make the same record again."

Such forward thinking puts the Greencards in the same artistic circle as the now-defunct Nickel Creek, the genre-bending acoustic music trio that released three acclaimed, commercially successful studio albums between 2000 and 2005; the group then disbanded in 2007.

"That is a very complimentary thing to say. We admire them tremendously," Warner says. "They crossed boundaries. There is a big hole since they are not around. We are not copying them by any means, but maybe we are filling that void. They are one of my favorite bands."

And like Nickel Creek, the Greencards are courting a younger audience. It's the only way to stay afloat making music that doesn't fit the mainstream and rarely gets any high-profile radio airplay. So they play headlining gigs in clubs and coffeehouses, but they also go for big festivals such as MerleFest in Wilkesboro, N.C., the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut and the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

They even snagged a spot on the upcoming Lollapalooza installment Aug. 7-9 in Chicago.

"We want those challenges," Warner says. "We want the growth. We want more people every year. Especially if that audience is coming from a different area and they haven't heard this type of music before and they think it's different and interesting." Plan your life

The Greencards perform tonight at 7:30 at Poor David's Pub, 1313 S. Lamar St. $17. Front Gate Tickets.