Since its conception by Bill Monroe in the 1940s, bluegrass has always been a particularly hermetic style of music. Despite international success (in the Netherlands, for example), it has always retained the sound and spirit of the rural American South.

To my mind Winnipeg's Magnificent 7s are one of the few bands doing something new and interesting in the genre. Their mix of bluegrass instrumentals, folk covers and powerful originals doesn't stray too far from tradition, but enough to bring back some serious relevancy.

In a recent email exchange guitarist T.J. Blair took us through the band's history, and newest album All Kinds of Mean.

How does the sound of All Kinds of Mean differ from your debut?

We were pretty green when recording our debut record. Dirty Roads was very rough and raw. I think we spent about 300 bucks in total to record it, and most of that money went towards wine. It wasn't professionally produced by any means, but in retrospect, it seems to have a pretty unique energy to it. The new record was our first time in a professional studio, and it seems comes across as a lot more polished.

You have several credited songwriters in the band - has this been constant since the beginning, or with this album has the pool of ideas, so to speak, been opened up?

We've always encouraged each other to contribute to the songwriting aspect of the band. We've always been open to each other's ideas and I think ultimately it creates a strong formula for keeping the band interesting from song to song.

Was the album recorded full-band, live-off-the-floor style? If so, why?

Yeah, the majority of the album was recorded that way, with as few overdubs as possible. The idea behind this method was an attempt to capture the spirit of our live show. I'm not sure if it worked, but that was the main motivation behind it. We're a live act, so I think it made sense to do it that way.

One of two covers on the album is a Neil Young song, an artist not typically associated with bluegrass. Does "Unknown Legend" have special significance for the band, or did it just make a good fit?

We were involved with a Neil Young tribute concert several years ago back in Winnipeg, where we performed a set's worth of his tunes. This just seemed to be the song that we kept playing when we were on the road and thought it might make a good fit for the album.

It's becoming a bit of a tradition for us to tip our hats to musicians that have come out of Winnipeg. Our first album contains a song from left-as-fuck Winnipeg punk rock band Propagandhi.

A song you wrote, “The Rapture,” is an album standout for me. What did you have in mind while writing it?

While we were on tour some years ago in western Ontario. We stopped in a small town to gas up and pick up some smokes. I can't remember the name anymore, but it turns out that this specific community was incredibly religious and they did not allow the sale of tobacco. I suppose they thought of cigarettes as evil. After walking away from the awkward interaction at the gas station, one of the locals handed us a thick stack of leaflets labelled "THE RAPTURE". It was one of those religious, "beware, the end is near", sort of leaflets that you get every now and then from downtown street corners. But I must say the artwork in this leaflet was something else. I mean, the front page had this evil looking horned demon holding an axe, with decapitated bodies surrounding it. It would have made a great album cover for any heavy metal band!

Do you come from a religious upbringing? I personally do not, but have found bluegrass and country music to be great introductions to religious ideas. Would you agree?

Yeah, I think you're definitely right about bluegrass having a foundation for religious ideas. Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, seemed to be heavily influenced by gospel music and often preached via song. I'm a big gospel music lover, but I definitely take it with some heavy grains of salt. It's more the melodies and harmonies that move me, rather than the subject matter. I've always identified as an atheist, but have often been drawn to the images associated with the whole fire and brimstone thing.

Do you, and / or other band members, have solo projects as well?

We all seem to have other musical projects - too many to list though. Within the group, our tastes range widely. We're involved with everything, whether it's the blues, hip hop, celtic, or rock and roll.

Tell me something great about Winnipeg.

We're all proud of being 'Peggers. I think ultimately what makes the city are the people. Winnipeg is filled with so many weird and wonderful characters. Lots of creativity comes out of that city, but I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe because we're stuck inside for over six months of the year due to the extreme cold.

Tell me something not-so-great about it.

Mayor Sam Katz.

Have you found success in the Southern U.S., where bluegrass is more common?

We're just in the infant stages of getting into the American market, so I can't comment on it quite yet. By Kentucky standards we're not really considered a bluegrass band. I think we bastardize the tradition too much to be accepted by the purists, but who knows. What matters is that audiences like what we do, whether they're bluegrass fans or not. We'll be heading down to Nashville in a couple of months to do a meet and greet with the bluegrass industry folks down there. I'm not sure how they're going to take us, but it should be interesting to see how the purists react to it.

Do you remember when and why you personally became interested in bluegrass / traditional folk music?

As a teenager growing up in Winnipeg, I have memories of my father playing bluegrass banjo in the house. Of course, being a teenager I was more interested in Nirvana and Guns 'n' Roses at the time, and usually rolled my eyes at any form of country music. Then one day in my early 20's ... I don't know how or why ... bluegrass music started making sense to me. From there it sort of became a weird and unhealthy obsession.