The two-step is about as country as it gets and today on the Big Valley Jamboree's mainstage will be an act that has taken a full two steps up in the world of country music.

The Edmonton-based bluegrass band Jerusalem Ridge, which got together back in 1996, has gone though something of an evolution recently. The local band opens the BVJ mainstage this afternoon.

Earlier this year, the four-piece group added Manitoba guitarist and singer Joe Teichroeb as its fifth member, stirring up an already vibrant chemistry.

"He was playing with the Dry River Boys up until the end of last year and when we found out he was available, we offered him a job 'cause he's a really hot guitar player," says founding member Keith Burgess.

Their first concert with Teichroeb happened last April down in Manyberries, in southern Alberta, and the entire group was amazed at what resulted once they were on stage. "We just looked at each saying, 'Whoa - we've definitely taken a step up the ladder with Joe.' So we're very excited about the new sound. Joe is a very talented lead singer and he's just a superbly gifted technical player, what they call flat picking, just a very fast player," explains Burgess while at home keeping a close eye on the family's new puppy.

"It's opened up a whole new world of things that we wanted to try musically. So we're very excited about it ... The quality of the blend of voices is as good as it's ever been, if not better."

During the first dozen years together, Jerusalem Ridge worked as a traditional bluegrass group, exploring the sub-sections of the genre as "bluegrass ambassadors."

But in the last few years, they decided collectively to be more creative and are currently touring with 25% to 30% original material.

"Its interesting because where it's led us is to create a bluegrass-goes-to-the-symphony program, believe it or not," says Burgess. "In 2002 David Hoyt, the former conductor for the ESO, approached us and said, 'How'd you like to do a concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra?' And that really intrigued us."

With some support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and a number of instrumental pieces written by the group's banjo player, Craig Korth, they've scored an entire bluegrass program for symphonies to perform. It's called Fire on the Mountain: A Bluegrass Music Experience With Jerusalem Ridge and will be debuting at the Winspear Centre Jan. 17. Having a bluegrass artist or ensemble collaborate with a symphony orchestra is a rarity and a first in Canada.

"The focus has taken us in a totally new direction, to perform with symphonies, and it's kind of, in a way, helped us reinvent ourselves after 16 years. We were looking for something new, a new challenge, and with the addition of Joe and this new direction, I think it's really injected a whole lot of new energy into the band," says Burgess.

Jerusalem Ridge is scheduled for an afternoon slot today in the Axe songwriter's tent.