Collard Greens & Gravy were formed in Melbourne in 1995 as a blues trio by James Bridges on guitar and fiddle , Ian Collard on lead vocals , harmonica and guitar , and Anthony Shortte on drums . The group 's name refers to a fictitious meal , Collard explained , " When we went to America we discovered that ... everywhere we went people would say , ' You ca n't put gravy on collard greens . Your name does n't make any sense ' . " Their debut self-titled album appeared in 1999 via Black Market Music and was recorded live-in-the-studio at Soundhouse Studios . Benoît Felten of '' Planet Harmonica '' felt , " It is a very dark and haunting record , it has a kind of mean edge to it , not unlike some of the eeriest Robert Johnson stuff , although using different tools . " The group 's second album , '' More Gravy ! '' ( 2000 ) , won Best Blues & Roots Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 . Australian musicologist , Ian McFarlane , described how the group 's , " energetic foot-stomping , country blues sound tapped into the very roots of the genre . " Patrick Donovan of '' The Age '' observed , " their local brand of swampy countrified electric blues has earned them a reputation as the best blues band in the land . " At the International Blues Challenge ( IBC ) competition in February 2001 , Collard Greens & Gravy represented Australia in the International Blues Performer of the Year category and finished second . The group undertook tours of the United States . Their third album , '' Silver Bird '' ( June 2004 ) , was produced by John Durr . At the IBC competition in 2005 , the album won Best Self-produced CD – tied with Robin Rogers ' album , '' Crazy , Cryin ' Blues ''
ARIA Music Awards of 2001
ARIA Music Awards of 2001
Collard Greens & Gravy