musician | composer | educator

grass is greener - Kai Schreiber (c) CC BY-SA 2.0

Continuing with the theme of my last post, I’d like to point out that the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA) is aware that all Grass Seeds eventually grow up and that the grass doesn’t always stay purely blue. In fact, Minnesota is starting to gain a national reputation for being a hotbed of hybrid and progressive forms of stringband music with bands like Trampled by Turtles and Pert Near Sandstone touring the country, building a name for our local acoustic scene and introducing banjos, mandolins and fiddles to a new generation of fans. As these new fans become interested in the roots of the music (and perhaps even want to pick up an instrument or start a band themselves) it is important that there are resources available to help them learn and grow and that there is a community willing to embrace them. This often means meeting these budding ‘grassers in their natural habitat – college campuses, bars, night clubs etc. That is where the MBOTMA Underground comes in.

Roe Family Singers will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

According the Facebook event page for their upcoming kick-off/fundraiser at the 331 Club in NE Minneapolis:

“MBOTMA Underground is a subset of MBOTMA designed to filter new members into the organization through events around the metro area, the festivals, and beyond! We would eventually love to have monthly or bimonthly concerts (where we can actually pay our artsits!), jam sessions on college campuses, a presence at MBOTMA festivals (think: “Brought to You By…MBOTMA Underground!”), and much more.”

Wild Goose Chase Cloggers will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

If you’d like to be a part of this exciting new movement or just show your support, you can do so this Saturday, April 28th 2012 from 5pm-9pm at the 331 Club in Minneapolis, where they will be holding their kick-off event and a fund raiser. Here are more details from their press release:

Saturday, April 28, 2012, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Minneapolis MN: MBOTMA Underground Kickoff Concert, 331 Club (331 13th Ave NE). Roe Family Singers, Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, and Ruby Magpie. Help welcome MBOTMA Underground to the music community. There will be a raffle for those that do donate for tickets to the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Association’s Kickoff Music festival June 1-3 at El Rancho Maana, as well as some other prizes. The proceeds will go to the start up of MBOTMA Underground, which is dedicated to promoting the next generation of bluegrass and old-time music. $10 suggested donation. For more information call 800-635-3037 or visit www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org. Produced by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA).

Ruby Magpie will perform at the MBOTMA Underground kick-off event

I should mention that I will be there performing with a new progressive acoustic band that I have joined called Ruby Magpie, which features some of my favorite local pickers:  Catie Jo Pidel (fiddle, guitar, ukulele, vocals), Pete Mathison (bass, vocals) and Ryan Kimm (guitar, dobro, vocals).

I look forward to seeing who shows up…  …and who sticks around.

At some point last year I decided that 2011 would be the Year of Yes. I pledged that I wouldn’t turn down any gigs, recording sessions or teaching opportunities that came my way and, if I still had time, I might even get to that solo album I had been meaning to record. Well, 2011 has now come to a close and I must say that the Year of Yes was a success! I had many amazing musical adventures on stage, in the studio and in the classroom.  Here are some of the highlights:

Rockin' w/ Walker Fields at the 400 Bar

American Strings Debut Performance

Live:
On top of many fun shows with the High 48s and the Mark Kreitzer Band, I dipped my toes back in the Minneapolis bar scene (400 Bar, Turf Club, Kitty Cat Klub etc.) with Walker Fields,  kicked-off a High 48s side project with Eric Christopher called American Strings and played some interesting one-off gigs as well, like backing-up Jordan High School’s Pops Choir and pickin’ at the MN Craft Brewer’s Guild’s Autumn Brew Review.

With Matthew Zimmerman Wild Sound

I recorded plenty of drums this year!

Recording:
I spent a lot of time in recording studios in 2011, not only on my album (we’ll get to that) but with other great Twin Cities bands and musicians as well.  I played on records by the Minor Planets,  Monroe Crossing, the Mark Kreitzer Band, and a couple different projects from artist and producer Michael Nelson.  And finally, one of the more interesting recording experiences I had last year was for a family history DVD project, where I ended up playing a banjo-fiddle duet with none other than Ron Stewart!

Grass Seeds Academy class of 2011

Me and Bob

Teaching:
I was happy to expand my teaching experience last year as well, taking on new students for private lessons, working with talented children and young adults at the MBOTMA Grass Seeds Academy and (one of the highlights), doing a banjo workshop with  Bob Black, one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and a pioneer of the melodic banjo style.

Our first gig!

My first album! Missing Ghosts!

My own band and solo album!:
Perhaps the most gratifying accomplishment of 2011 was something that I had been meaning to say yes to for a while now, which was to get back to writing and performing original music. Since Free Range Pickin’ (original string band I was in for 10 years) dissolved, I had been looking for another outlet for my original brand of “Newgrass” music, and, after a lot of thought, I decided to put together my own band with some of my favorite musicians (Eric Christopher, Dan Christensen-Cowan and Jed Germond), record a solo album and get out and perform. I am VERY happy to say that the band has come together, the record, Missing Ghosts, has been completed and we’ve already had a handful of successful shows, including an amazingly fun album release party at the Aster Cafe last month.

Phew,  it really has been quite a year and I’m so glad I decided to say yes to the things I am passionate about! How about you? What will you being saying “yes” to this year? Personally, I can’t wait to find out what 2012 will be the year of…

Anthony & Dale in "Dueling Banjos II: Deathmatch (Uncensored)"

Just got back from playing with The High 48s at an incredibly fun bluegrass festival in central Wisconsin called Bluegrass in the Pines. It is hosted by one of my all-time favorite bluegrass bands, Art Stevenson and Highwater. They have managed to put together an event that combines a great location (literally in the pines – full of shade, soft ground, fragrant air etc.), with top-notch music (Bluegrass Patriots, Briar Pickers,  Hand-Picked Bluegrass, Sloppy Joe  etc.) and one of the most amazing, fun-loving, appreciative bluegrass crowds I have ever had the pleasure of playing for.

Highlights include: the dancing at every set (day or night), the all-ages crowd (infants to elderly), the top-notch jam circles, the local microbrews (New Glarus and Central Waters available on-site), the authentic Wisconsin dinners (fried cheese curds and beer), hangin’ with Highwater and, of course, the final uber-jam version of  ”Will the Circle Be Unbroken”  to finish off Saturday night… Amazing!

Backstage with Bob Black

It was a real treat performing at the annual Minnesota Bluegrass & Old Time  Music Festival last weekend, one of the best run festivals in the country IMO (IBMA “Event of the Year” nominee multiple years). Of course, I had an amazing time playing with the Mark Kreitzer Band on Fri. and Sat. (we were really warmed up after the previous weekend in SD), but I also had some great adventures far from the main stage as well.

Old time clogging in Sherwood Forest

The highlight of the weekend for me was performing in the bluegrass banjo showcase with Bob Black, one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys (as well as one of the best melodic, “Keith Style” banjo pickers out there today), what an honor! Other great offstage experiences included: hanging with my new friends in the Foghorn Stringband for another weekend in a row; teaching an advanced banjo workshop to a really nice group of pickers; playing drums at a drunken, country-fried, Ranch House afterparty (Clay Hess being among the pickers!), and, it was my first time crossing party lines and camping with the Old-Time folks in “Sherwood Forest”– very hospitable people I must say (of course, I kept my finger picks in the case). All this and I got to see a bunch of great music on stage and off.