Mipso’s new album tops Billboard charts

When UNC graduates Wood Robinson, Joseph Terrell and Jacob Sharp originally founded their band, Mipso, in 2010, they didn’t know where the opportunity would take them.

Now, five years and one new band member later, Mipso has topped the Billboard Bluegrass chart starting the week of Oct. 24 with their latest album, Old Time Reverie, which debuted Oct. 2.

“Our journey has been long, inspiring, fulfilling and completely grueling,” Robinson said. “I’m very happy about it.”

With 180 shows a year, the UNC-based band is enjoying great success. In addition to their success on the Bluegrass charts, Mipso discovered they were also No. 20 on Billboard’s Folk Chart, as well as in the top 25 of the “Heatseekers” Chart. Their new album features songs that have been in the works since December 2014.

“It’s an amazing feeling of validation. It feels really really good,” said Robinson, who is the string bass player.

“We’re so proud that people are enjoying it and that enough people are digging it that we can make a living with music.”

Old Time Reverie is the third LP from Mipso and consists of 11 songs written by band members Sharp, Terrell and new full-time member Libby Rodenbough.

Rodenbough has collaborated with the band in the past, but the band is happy to have the fiddle player and singer as a permanent part of the group.

“She’s one of our closest friends and such a unique talent,” said mandolin player Sharp. “We thought we benefited from having her to broaden our music.”

The musicians are popular all along the east coast, but particularly have fans in the Chapel Hill community.

“They write about stuff that’s pretty relatable, and they’re obviously very talented,” said junior Devin Holman.

Mipso intends to spread their music beyond the east coast, with a range of shows in the Midwest starting today. The band hopes to continue making music for a long time.

“I hope that we continue to grow and let ourselves change musically. This is a nice progression from our last album, and we’ve learned more specifically what we want to do and how to accomplish that in our music,” Sharp said. “We want to be a more national band.”

Mipso’s success is a testament to the strength and support of the Chapel Hill community.

When all four members first met at UNC, they were not music majors and did not intend to go into music professionally. A performance for a charity event was the first step to launching the Americana band to the top of music charts.

“Chapel Hill has a tremendous history of music and a tremendous community that supports music,” Robinson said. “We were shown early on that a life in music is neither a scapegoat for not getting a job nor a difficult and unachievable pursuit.”

arts@dailytarheel.com