The Band of Friends is a Boston based group of musicians that have been creating music together ever since they started studying at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. The band features original music rooted in bluegrass and fiddle traditions as well as drawing from inspirations from around the world. Whether they are celebrating a melody or soaring high on improvisational creations, The Band of Friends offers a fresh new perspective on string band music.
Built on longtime friendship and frequent collaboration, the Band of Friends is comprised of Sam Leslie on guitar, Ethan Setiawan on mandolin, Dan Klingsberg on bass, and Julian Pinelli on fiddle.
Hailed by David Grisman as a “wonderful mandolin player”, and by Darol Anger as “one of the best mandolinists I’ve ever played with”, Portland, Maine based Joe K. Walsh is known for his exceptional tone and taste, and his years of collaborations with acoustic music luminaries including fiddle legend Darol Anger, modern master fiddler Brittany Haas, wildly creative flatpicker Grant Gordy, cello force Mike Block, banjo innovator Danny Barnes, and pop/grass darlings Joy Kills Sorrow, a band he co-founded. He’s played with everyone from John Scofield to Molly Tuttle to Tony Trischka, and performed at festivals, club and theaters all over North America and Europe.
After a number of award-winning years with bluegrass stars the Gibson Brothers, Joe currently splits his time between an inventive string band called Mr Sun (featuring Darol Anger, Grant Gordy and Aidan O’Donnell), a trio with Danny Barnes and Grant Gordy, the Mike Block Trio, a project with Celia Woodsmith, and his own band. An avid educator, Joe is an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music. He teaches regularly at music camps and workshops all over, and teaches online through Peghead Nation.
Sliding from the murky depths of Berklee practice rooms, this band is named Turtle Vibe because at least one member is reminiscent of a shell-wearing reptile… their music is a combination of both songs and instrumentals, a unique perspective rooted in a mixture of traditions including bluegrass, old time, jazz, funk, and blues.
Brian Murray – Guitar
Corban Welter – Mandolin
Trevin Nelson – Banjo
Noah Harrington – Bass
A crowd-thrilling trio from the hills of Colorado, Stillhouse Junkies share the kind of strangely charmed chemistry that elevates both artist and audience alike. Since forming in 2017, the Durango-bred band have offered up a hypnotic and high-energy form of roots music anchored in the free-flowing interplay among the three lifelong musicians (Fred Kosak on guitar and mandolin, Cody Tinnin on upright bass, Alissa Wolf on fiddle). While they’ve gained major traction in the bluegrass world in recent years — including winning the IBMA Momentum Band of the Year award in 2021—Stillhouse Junkies ultimately inhabit a genre – blurring and subtly inventive sound informed by everything from blues to classical to Texas swing. When matched with their nuanced songcraft and soul-stirring harmonies, the result is a one-of-a-kind musical experience that immediately transports the listener into a more enchanted state of mind.
Since their arrival on the scene in 2015, Nefesh Mountain has been hailed as one of today’s formative boundary pushing Bluegrass/Americana bands. They’re among the first to truly give voice and openly represent Jewish American culture, tradition, values and spirituality in the world of American roots music.
In a testament to the unbridled imagination and extraordinary grace of their musicianship, each track on Songs for the Sparrows ineffably evokes the sensation of roaming through the unknown. True to the album’s spirit of loving inclusivity, Lindberg and Zasloff, have created an elegantly wayward sound by melding elements of everything from Americana and Appalachian bluegrass to Celtic folk and Eastern European music. Not only a reflection of their vast musical knowledge, that open-hearted embracing of so many eclectic genres also speaks to the joyful curiosity that animates every aspect of their artistry.
Writing thirteen of the fourteen tracks, the duo looked back on a life-changing trip to Eastern Europe in 2018. “We tracked down the towns where our families are from, and it was devastating to see the destruction of the Holocaust firsthand, and to know that we’re not so far removed from that time,” says Lindberg. “” ‘Songs For The Sparrows’ ultimately came from that experience, and from thinking about the many groups of people who are horribly discriminated against in the U.S.” Zasloff adds: “To us, sparrows represent a small but mighty voice. That’s why we chose to name the album for them—they’re often overlooked, but they’re beautiful and everywhere.” Lindberg and Zasloff are the heart of this eclectic band, alongside longtime bandmate and fiddle player Alan Grubner, David Goldenberg on mandolin, and Max Johnson on bass.
The Wildmans are a brother-and-sister-led band bringing an eclectic, energetic and captivating live performance that is deeply rooted in the Appalachian American and old-time, country music tradition. The Wildmans expand on these roots with dynamic improvisational interludes and original songs, written by the band and friends of the area. Sing songs featuring brother sister “blood” harmonies.
Growing up in and basing out of the small one stoplight town of Floyd, Virginia, located in the heart of Appalachia. The Wildmans represent Appalachian American culture not only through their music, but through their upbringing and love for this region’s lifestyle and influence on all American music.
From campsite jamming at festivals and fiddler’s conventions and a Berklee College of Music education comes the foundation for musical exploration that sets this group apart, taking the audience on a musical journey that reflects the growth and passion of these talented musicians.
The Wildmans have appeared on stages large and small, including an extensive list of music festivals along the east coast, midwest, Wyoming and Colorado. Appearing on stages with artists such as, Bela Fleck, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Oliver Wood, Sierra Ferrell, The Steel Wheels, Sammy Shelor, Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, and more.
In their early days, Damn Tall Buildings didn’t rehearse – they busked. Now, whether live or on record, the band still radiates the energy of a ragtag crew of music students playing bluegrass on the street. But anchoring that energy is their instrumental chops, their strong songwriting, and their varied influences that stretch beyond bluegrass, even beyond American roots music altogether.
Whether sharing lead vocals and instrumental solos or blending their voices into loose, joyous harmony, the four members of Damn Tall Buildings (guitarist/lead vocalist Max Capistran, bassist/lead vocalist Sasha Dubyk, fiddler/vocalist Avery Ballotta and banjoist/vocalist Jordan Alleman) blend elements of bluegrass, blues, roots-rock and vintage swing to create a captivating, high-energy sound. Since their busking days, they’ve made three albums: 2014’s Cure-All, 2015’s self-titled, and their forthcoming third album, Don’t Look Down.
The band has also relocated to Brooklyn, NY and toured widely, sharing stages with Sierra Hull and the California Honeydrops and appearing at festivals like Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, and Freshgrass Festival, where they took second place in the 2016 band competition. Their lyrics find beauty and glory in the mundane, workaday struggle of everyday life: time keeps passing, you don’t like your job, you drink too much, you laugh with your friends, you search for a home, and you dream about what else might be out there. You carry on. This is what Damn Tall Buildings sings about, what they seek to share with their audience
Monique Byrne and Andy Rogovin perform moving and inspirational songs that are sometimes joyful, sometimes wistful, and oftentimes, poignant, and that reflect a mutual passion for life, family and humanity. Their intimately blended vocal harmonies are mixed with an expressive and unique instrumental style that is best described as “a banjo-guitar romance.” Crowes Pasture’s style of intimate and soulful folk transports and connects listeners through universal experiences in their “skillfully crafted, emotional songwriting” (Chris Eastburn, award-winning composer).
Crowes Pasture has made waves with two EPs and three full-length albums in just six-years time. Their CD, “Slow It Down”, was released in June 2019 at the legendary Club Passim. Since its release, the title track earned Crowes Pasture a #1 song, and the album debuted at #5 on the Folk Alliance International Charts. Since the release of their first album, “Edge of America,” the duo has had eight Top 10 Songs on the Folk Charts, including “Take Back the Red White and Blue” (January 2022), their cover of Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now” (June 2019), and the timely and topical song, “Quarantine” (January 2021).
Over the past few years, Crowes Pasture has performed at a number of renowned east coast music venues including Club Passim, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bull Run, and Circle of Friends Coffeehouse and has been a supporting act for The Small Glories and The Kennedys. The duo has been twice honored with nominations as “Roots Act of the Year” by the New England Music Awards (2019 and 2022) and once as “Americana Artist of the Year” by the Boston Music Awards (2019). They were named finalists for Best Group/Duo in the 2020 International Acoustic Music Awards, and for Best Group/Duo in the 2021 IAMAs, for their song “A Virtue and a Call”. The duo has toured recently throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec, and is currently recording their third full length album with award-winning producer Eric Lichter of Dirt Floor Studios.
Jacob Jolliff grew up just south of Portland, OR. He was awarded a full scholarship to The Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2007. Shortly after graduating from Berklee, he won the National Mandolin Championship. In 2014, he joined the progressive bluegrass group, Yonder Mountain String Band. He toured with YMSB until the end of 2019, releasing two albums with them. Now in 2023, the mandolinist’s main focus is The Jacob Jolliff Band. This ensemble is a group of virtuosic pickers that play Jacob’s original instrumentals, as well as showcase his singing. They tour nationally in the US and have also travelled to Scotland and Australia to perform. The group has released two albums, “Instrumentals Vol. 1” in 2018 and “The Jacob Jolliff Band” in 2022.
Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation.
Born in Northern California, Brittany grew up honing her craft at string camps nationwide, and developed her unique style of fiddling at the influence of her mentors, Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger. A prodigious youth, Haas began touring with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings at the age of fourteen. At seventeen, she released her debut, self-titled solo album (produced by Anger). Haas continued to tour and record while simultaneously earning a degree in Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University (where she also minored in Music Performance). It was during her time at Princeton that Brittany was asked to join the seminal “chamber-grass” band Crooked Still, with whom she has made four recordings and toured the world.
Haas has always been a much sought-after collaborator and session musician. She has performed on Late Night With David Letterman and Saturday Night Live as part of Steve Martin’s bluegrass band, and features on Martin’s Grammy-winning album “The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.” Over the years, she has performed with Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Tony Trischka, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Waybacks, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (her cellist sister), and more.
