Spontaneous Combustion

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When Spontaneous Combustion formed in 1986, they looked like they do now: a regular bluegrass band, with Marvin Gruenbaum on fiddle, Leo Eilts on upright bass, brother Roger Eilts on guitar, and Scott Prowell doubling on mandolin and banjo. And when they play, the arrangements are 100-percent bluegrass, but songs like “California Dreamin,’” “Secret-Agent Man,” and “Great Balls of Fire” are not the typical of the style. While commercial music often seems preoccupied with defining its own boundaries, Spontaneous Combustion has simply taken the approach that all songs are potential bluegrass songs, and all stages, like the downtown Kansas City jazz and the blues club Tuba, Guitars and Cadillacs, the Plaza’s Penguin Court and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, are potential bluegrass stages.

Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine said the "blend of contemporary popular material and bluegrass instrumentation . . .has an undeniable appeal," one that comes partly from the band’s irreverent notion that even classical music has a place on a bluegrass stage. One might speculate that if Mr. W.A. (Bubba) Mozart were alive today, he may well be composing for high-energy bands like Kansas City’s own Spontaneous Combustion.

Their stage show is a sparkling mixture of interactive fun and tight, high-spirited music. Their stage dynamics are arresting and designed for a "focusing" effect, making the band as much fun to watch as they are to listen to.

Big Muddy for other years