The Duhks

The Duhks return to Wintergrass 2008 and will be playing a couple of sets this year. One of sets will be a great Saturday night dance! The Duhks who are based out of Canada just last month won a Canadian Folk Music Award for “Best Album - Contemporary” for their Sugar Hill Records release “Migrations” . The Duhks are a pretty unique band, there music is described as a Duhks-alone blend of soul, gospel, North American folk, Brazilian samba, old time country string band, zydeco, and Irish dance music. Perfect for an acoustic dance! Great fiddling, banjo and add some powerful vocals!

Tania Elizabeth -fiddle, Jordan McConnell – guitar, Leonard Podolak – banjo, Scott Senior – percussion,  Sarah Dugas- vocals

Mark Johnson & Emory Lester

Two of the best instrumentalists in bluegrass will be back at Wintergrass 2008. Mark & Emory’s latest album Acoustic Rising on the Mountain Home label was nominated for the IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year. Mark plays a unique blend of clawhammer banjo in a bluegrass style and Emory plays the mandolin based in bluegrass with new age and jazz influences. Working has a duo has given these two plenty of room for unique arrangements to compliment their unique styles.

Mark Johnson-banjo, Emory Lester-mandolin and guitar 

New Addition to the Academy-Russ Barenberg

2008 Grammy nominee ( Best Country Instrumental Performance for his tune “Little Monk” from the album When At Last) Russ Barenberg will be teaching at the Wintergrass Academy. Russ is not just a great bluegrass guitar player but an accomplished Nashville session player. Russ has played in bands ranging from Country Cooking & Heartlands in the 70’s, Fiddle Fever in 79 through the 80’s, Laughing Hands in the 80’s, Barenburg, Douglas and Meyer in the 90’s and all the while playing on a variety of performers recordings including Randy Travis, Emmy Lou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, Paul Brady, Darryl Scott, Joan Osborne, Bryan Sutton, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham, Eddi Reader, Natalie McMaster and Sharon Shannon. He has also done recording on four different Ken Burns films: The Brooklyn Bridge, The Shakers, Huey Long, The Civil War. His biography is really to long to post everything here so check out his web page for more info. http://www.russbarenberg.com/bio.cfm

 

Great Northern Planes

Always a fun band to see Great Northern Planes is back at Wintergrass 2008. Based out of Portland the band was put together from members of the popular band Pumpkin Ridge. This band features both traditional bluegrass songs and some non-traditional material in a perfect blend for every taste. And they are some of the best dressed musicians in bluegrass as you can see at their website!

Rob Hakanson-mandolin, Jim Hancock-banjo, Doug Hancock-guitar, Steve Bond-bass

Black And Bluegrass

Thursday night will have a special roots of bluegrass music show. This show was put together by Laura Love. This show will be exploring the sounds that Bill Monroe would have heard in his childhood growing up in Rosine, Kentucky. Joining Laura on this night will be the The Ebony Hillbillies, Ruthie Foster and others. Black And Bluegrass should be entertaining and educational!

Laura’s latest cd is Negrass (pronounced “KNEE - grass”) a collection of original and traditional Negro spirituals, field hollers and bluegrass music.

Laura has played Wintergrass a few times before with Jo Miller and they have been amazing shows each time. I am sure this will be another unforgettable performance.

Grammy Nomination for The Seldom Scene

The Seldom Scene who will be performing at Wintergrass 2008 have been nominated for the Grammy for  Best Bluegrass Album of 2007!   The new album Scenechronized on Sugar Hill is  the first album  for the Scene in 7 years.  The Scene will be playing on Saturday and Sunday.

Packway Handle Band

Based out of Athens, GA The Packway Handle Band has been playing hard driving bluegrass since 2001. This band proved that  bluegrass done right can beat out 72 rock bands in the in the 2003  Miller Lite “Locals Only” 2003, they won the Athens hosting of the Miller Lite “Locals Only” Battle of the Bands using a single microphone format.  These guys lean to the faster songs of the music. Aside from the faster songs the band does some great gospel music also showing off their vocal harmonies.  Prior to playing Wintergrass 2008 the band is on tour in Europe from Jan 25th to Feb 17th and it looks like Wintergrass will be their first US performance after the European tour. 

Band Members:

Tom Baker - banjo, vocals                                                          Josh Erwin - guitar, vocals
Andrew Heaton - fiddle, vocals
Zach McCoy - bass
Michael Paynter - mandolin, vocals

Jackstraw

Another great NW band! Portland based Jackstraw is back again to play Wintergrass 2008. Guitar fans will love this band!   This quartet (two guitars, mandolin and bass)  showcases  great traditional style bluegrass guitar and mandolin solos with some great original material. As great as the instrumental side of Jackstraw the vocals are a perfect fit to the overall Jackstraw sound.

PETE WERNICK (of Hot Rize):
“Jackstraw impresses me with their tight-knit, skilled musicianship, their crackling energy and repertoire which includes both traditional gems and fresh new tunes. A young band like this helps set the tone for new bluegrass in the 21st Century.”

Band members are: Darren Craig- guitar, Jon Neufeld-guitar, David Pugh-mandolin, Jesse Withers-bass

The Wilders

The Wilders from Kansas City, MO are going to be back at Wintergrass 2008 on Feb 23 & 24th. When The Wilders take the stage it is always a fun & varied set list.  The band plays a combination of old time country, bluegrass, fiddle tunes and hillbilly songs.  This is a band that will remind you of an old time  string band that would fit in at the Grand Ole Opry.  Make sure you check out their website for all kinds of info on the band.

Band members: Betse Ellis-fiddle, Ike Sheldon-guitar, Phil Wade-dobro, mandolin, banjo,  Nate Gawron-bass

Trampled By Turtles

Trampled By Turtles is a band that is part of Wintergrass 2008’s theme of Celebrating Transformation. This band from Duluth, Minnesota plays their style of bluegrass with a hard edge showing their influences of alt-country, traditional bluegrass and rock music.  This is a certainly a great band for the dancing stage. If you are looking for a band to introduce some younger fans to bluegrass this  band is a fun one.

Band Members are:

Dave Simonett-vocals, guitar
Tim Saxhaug- bass, vocals
Dave Carroll- banjo, vocals
Erik Berry- mandolin, vocals