Members of the Busted Hearts returned to their roots after a long hiatus of playing rock & roll music in smoky clubs. Around 2001, singer and guitarist Keith Jackson, the nephew of Billy Powers, who was a member of the Foggy Mountain Boys, approached banjoist Bruce Cannole about starting a traditional bluegrass band. They formed the Busted Hearts on the pretense of playing undiluted mountain music. Jackson, a hardcore traditionalist, grew up in a