The Summer Northwestern

While many musicians enjoy experimenting with the latest technology and sound effects, others prefer to use as little technology as possible — Reid Burgess is one of these people.

Although Burgess, who sings and plays the mandolin for the Charlottesville, Virginia, bluegrass sextet King Wilkie, does like several rock bands (such as The White Stripes, which he describes as “raw and real”), he doesn’t like music with excessive production values.

“More than hip hop, this strange brand of music with banjos and fiddles just appealed to me,” Burgess said.

This back-to-basics approach fuels the musical style of King Wilkie, which will be playing its first ticketed show tonight at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport Ave. The band’s second album, “Broke,” was released this spring.

“Part of what I like about bluegrass is there’s a longing for the golden age and nostalgia, that’s part of what excited me to it,” Burgess said. “On the surface, there is an illusion that anything that is old is real since it connects you to the past.”

Burgess, 24, first became interested in bluegrass four years ago when he attended the 2000 Mohican Blues Festival in Loudonville, Ohio. He said it blew him away and led to his bluegrass fixation and addiction.

“I wasn’t just listening to it, I was really studying it,” he said.

King Wilkie, which released its first album, “True Songs,” in 2003, plays a mix of original songs and covers.

“It’s like refurbishing an antique table, we try to make the old songs functional again while keeping their song quality intact,” Burgess said.

In response to a music industry that gives bluegrass little media attention, Burgess said: “Part of it is because the genre has been so marginalized. It’s this little niche in country music and people are more apprehensive as far as the industry goes.”

King Wilkie has been talking about recording a new album in April, which would not be released until at least a year from now. Otherwise the band’s future is not delineated.

“We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing, make more records, keep touring,” said Burgess. “It’s not something we think about consciously.”

Scene Editor Ben Rosen is a Weinberg senior. He can be reached at [email protected].