Zoo Grass review

Check out the live interview Alanya’s report at Citizen Journalism about Zoo Grass and Missoula bluegrass.

By ALANYA CHERKIS

Last month, Missoula hosted its first ZooGrass festival at the Top Hat lounge downtown.

The event on Saturday, Sept. 24, featured a potluck, a family-friendly environment, an open-pickin’ circle, and, mainly, hours of live music.

Live bluegrass has recently taken hold of the music scene in Missoula, with its upbeat energy, foot-stompin’ beats, and a stage full of strings. But what is it about this genre that has become such a large part of the Garden City’s nightlife?

In this audio feature, Jed Nussbaum of stompgrass phenomenon Dodgy Mountain Men, folk singer-songwriter Britt Arnesen, and event organizer Skye Berns discuss the allure of bluegrass in Zootown.

http://www.makeitmissoula.com/2011/10/bluegrass-growing-in-the-garden-city/

Bannock County Bluegrass Festival in Pocatello

7th Annual Bannock County Bluegrass Festival this weekend:

CHICKEN DINNER ROAD

This band comes from the Treasure Valley in Idaho.  They first got together at a jam session in 2005 and had so much fun that they decided to form a band and find some places to play in public.  In 2006 they gathered at the Old Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID and competed in the Battle of the Bluegrass Bands.  They won first place and competed again in 2009 and won again.  They play every chance they get and have had the opportunity to open for some great groups such as Valery Smith & Liberty Pike, Mike Compton and Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain.

The band members are Brian Haken, guitar & vocals, Dennis Stokes, mandolin & vocals, Bill Cates, banjo, Harry Strung, bass & vocals and Rue Frisbee, fiddle.

Listen Holy Unto the Lord

Listen, Gotta Do My Time

PANHANDLE POLECATS

These polecats come from Rathdrum, ID.  In just 5 short years the Panhandle Polecats have gone from just another cute family band to Dogs (er, Cats) in the thriving inland Northwest scene. The lighting fast picking, tight vocals and infectious stage presence of these five siblings have won a devoted following throughout the region.

The band consist of Jenny Little, bass fiddle & vocals, Hank Little, dobro and vocals, Molly Little (Wilbur) mandolin & vocals, Austin Little, banjo & vocals and Bonnie Little (Campbell)  guitar & vocals.

RED DESERT RAMBLERS

They come from  Salt Lake City, UT.  Red desert plays bluegrass, old country and swing music.  With combined experience of over 150 years, members blend traditional harmonies with smoking instrumental breaks.  This band is very very popular at festivals and has performed at bluegrass and folk festivals in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, and Colorado.  The band members are, Steve Hewson, mandolin, guitar & vocals, Dave Bates, bass & vocals, Joe Farmer, mandolin & vocals, Rick Martinez, banjo & vocals and Sharon Mitchell, hammered dulcimer & vocals.

Listen: Roll On Buddy

NEW SOUTH FORK

New South fork is a group formed in Idaho Falls, ID.  They have recently welcomed new members to create a great band which loves to do up-tempo original and traditional bluegrass music.  Three of the members have been together for several years, and have played in several venues throughout Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Washington including Arizona and California.  New members who will be adding their own style and talents are great musicians in their own rights and have played with very successful groups in and around the area.  On banjo and vocals- Fred Frank, bass and vocals – Emily Frank, fiddle – Jeff Forbes, guitar and vocals – Joel Kaserman, mandolin – Chad Fadely.  A group that loves to have fun and play bluegrass.  Hope you enjoy the ride.

Listen: The Ride

BLUEGRASS COALITION

Part of this band comes from Montana and part come from Idaho.  Mike and Tari Conroy, from Connor Montana, love Old Time Bluegrass and love to perform the old style songs they have performed around the house for years.  The Conroy’s have had many years of duet singing and have done 9 recordings.  They are considered by many to be pioneers in Montana Bluegrass.  Now with Mike playing banjo and Tari playing her Martin guitar, they are very excited to be merging their style with the very talented Fred & Emily Frank.  Fred and Emily Frank regularly perform as a duet and are also members of the well known band New South Fork from Idaho Falls, ID.  They have played at many prestigious festivals, in Washington, Colorado and California.  Emily is a prolific song writer and wonderful bluegrass singer.  Fred is a multi — Instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo and mandolin.  He is also a great bluegrass singer.


HAMMER DOWN

This group comes from the Salt Lake City, Utah area.  The group was originally formed by Mark Jenkins in the early spring of 2003 and to date has had several talented local musicians associated with the group.  Hammer Down has played at several major festivals across the country and is well known for their hard driving traditional and contemporary bluegrass sound.  The band members are, Mark Jenkins, guitar and lead vocals, Katelyn Jenkins, fiddle & vocals, Fairley Sparks dobro & vocals,

Tim Morrison, bass & vocals, Jake Workman, mandolin & vocals and Rick Martinez, banjo & vocals.

STRINGS ATTACHED

This band comes from the Twin Falls, Idaho area.  Strings Attached has appeared at the Northern Rockies Folk Festival, the National Old Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID, the National Country Music Festival in Avoca, Iowa, the Southern Utah Bluegrass Festival in Kanab, several times at the Bannock County Bluegrass Festival in Pocatello, ID and many other bluegrass events around the US.  They are a traditional bluegrass band with a little folk flavor.  They have also played for square dances and contra dances.  The members are Jon Jacobson, guitar & vocals, Jenni Jacobson, fiddle & vocals, Mike McCarthy, banjo & vocals, and David Quinley, bass & vocals

Listen; The Minor Song

TRADITION

This band comes from Nampa Idaho.  The band consists of six members steeped heavily in solid bluegrass.  They have built the band of a good base of influences that include, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Jim & Jessie and the Stanley Brothers.  Their music is also influenced by some of the more modern bands of today such as, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Alison Krauss & Union Station, JD Crow & the New South and the Seldom Scene. Each member brings their own stylistic variance together into a culmination, which becomes the distinct sound of Tradition.  The band members are, Doug Jenkins, fiddle & vocals, Pat Massie, dobro & vocals, Emily Frank, bass & vocals, Bob Greer, guitar & vocals, Fred Frank, mandolin & vocals and Ron Hillier, banjo & vocals,

COLD CREEK

They come from American Fork, UT.  Cold Creek is Utah’s premier bluegrass group.  They perform across Utah and the Western States.  The music of Cold Creek is a captivation blend of traditional and progressive bluegrass.  It features tight harmonies, incredible picking and playing and interesting arrangements.  The band members are Bill Sprunger, guitar & lead vocals.  Bill is also a champion fiddle and mandolin player, Blaine Nelson, on banjo.  Bill holds the 2003 Utah State Banjo Championship.  Rob Ricks, fiddle.  He has won many awards which include The Telluride Fiddle Contest and Te Telluride Band Contest.  Andrea Ivey Banner, bass, lead vocals and harmonies, Jake Workman, mandolin & vocals.  Jake is the youngest one of the group and is a multi instrumentalist.  He also plays banjo and guitar.

Listen  Shady Grove

Listen

Butte Folk Festival Parking/Camping

I was talking to the bass player Judy (of Judy and Bob) at West Folk over the weekend about the Butte Folk Festival.  She said that she and Bob had called to reserve a hotel room in Butte for the festival weekend and the town is all booked up.  Last year, Curtis & I parked our RV on N Washington St. for the entire festival weekend and didn’t get asked to move.  This worked out to be a great spot with easy access to the main (Original) stage.  There are a few spots that are level on that street and it’s adjacent to a field where some folks pitched tents last year.  Other pickers were parked nearby and we jammed on Saturday night after the shows.  The Butte Folk Festival is all free of charge.

We’re hoping to park near the same spot again this year.  We’ll look for other MRBAs there.

Butte Folk Festival map

Butte Folk Festival map

Holy Bucket Bluegrass Festival

Norris Hot Springs

Norris Hot Springs

This Memorial Day – Monday May 25th, Norris Hot Springs will be hosting their 5th annual Holy Bucket Bluegrass Festival. Enjoy a soak in the Water of the Gods while listening to the best live acoustic music in the region. Featured performers this year:
4:00 The John Lowell Band

5:30 Anne & Pete Sibley

7:30 Sally Newsome & the Norris Hot Strings


John Lowell, the founder and cornerstone of nationally acclaimed Kane’s River, is a master of driving rhythm and inventive flatpicking lead guitar. A sensitive, clear-voiced singer, John is hailed as one of the genre’s finest songwriters. His work has been performed by Bluegrass Etc., Valerie Smith, and other national recording artists. This year’s festival set will feature over fifteen of John’s great original compositions. John is a veteran of Wheel Hoss, one of Montana’s best early bluegrass bands, and he toured with Loose Ties throughout the 90s. He has released three well-received recordings with Ben Winship as the Growling Old Men. John was honored by Flatpicking Magazine with a cover photo and feature article in their January, 2009 issue. The John Lowell Band will feature Russ Smith on the doghouse bass and the hot picking Tom Murphy, on the mandolin.

This Year’s First Place Winners of Prairie Home Companion’s annual talent show, the Great American Duet Sing-Off, Anne and Pete Sibley are about the vocals – the words and the harmonies. Anne & Pete have been singing together since they met in their high school choir. They were inspired by duet performers of traditional acoustic music when they began performing at their local Hootenanny in Jackson, Wyoming. Anne’s powerful songwriting, vocals and guitar paired with Pete’s solid melodic clawhammer banjo and soulful harmonies highlight their recordings and live performances. Since 2004 they have been offering their blend of original folk, bluegrass, old-timey and traditional yet original songs to wider audiences. They played at Merle Fest last month and will be performing on the main stage at Colorado’s Rocky Grass festival this July. Don’t miss this great chance to hear locally one of the best duets in the business.

Sally Newsome and Tom Murphy starting playing music next to the pool at Norris Hot Springs five years ago. It soon became clear that soakers counted on the poolside performances, coming as much to hear these talented performers as to heal their aching bodies in the Water of the Gods. Thus began the tradition of live acoustic music at Norris. When Kris Clone returned to Montana that same year, the Norris Hot Strings were formed. For the next two years Sally and the Norris Hot Strings played in the Poolside Dome twice a week, often joined by their friend Quinton King on lead acoustic guitar. Sally Newsome, a native to Bozeman, grew up singing. She was lead singer right our of high school for various bands including The Sol Congress and Bluejack, before picking up the guitar in 2000 and beginning her own songwriting. Sally’s amazing voice and warm stage presence have become a favorite to all that have been lucky enough to catch her performances. There’s a special magic that happens when Kris, Quinton and Tom lock in to Sally’s vocal groove. It is a rare treat to behold.

So check out The Holy Bucket. Montana Meat on the grill, local salads and specials, T-shirts and hats, and cold beer, wine, and soft drinks will be for sale. Gates open at 3:30. Tickets are an affordable $15 /adults and $3 /kids under 12, for an evening of music and a memorable soak. No Advance Sales. Rain or Shine. Please Carpool. For their sake, leave pets at home.