BearBridge at the Firebox

The BearBridge Band will be appearing at the Firebox Restaurant in Hartford CT this Sunday the 25th. of March at 5 PM. This band is made up of long time bluegrass musicians steeped in traditional bluegrass and old time music and always provide a fun time. You will hear some original music in the mix and some fine soloing to boot. The band is fronted by Robert Fraker on mandolin and vocals, his wife Lillian on bass and vocals, long time members, Tex Orlomoski, vocals and guitar and Dave Shaw, vocals and banjo. Always a treat to hear this band. The Firebox Restaurant is located at 539 Broad St., Hartford, CT and is well known for its excellent food and its penchant for "fresh and local" meat, produce and fruit.

Robert Fraker

Lillian Fraker

Dave "Tex" Orlomoski

Dave Shaw

Cashel Rock

The Vanilla Bean Cafe located in Pomfret, CT was turned into an Irish Pub for several hours Saturday night. The band "Cashel Rock" made up of veteran New England artists, Peter Lange, guitar and vocals, Peter's daughter Rachel Lange, vocals, Carol Soucy, vocals and standup comedy, Tim St.Jean, vocals, bodhran, and mandolin, Vikki Baker, vocals, flute and tin-whistle, John Gilmore, bass and vocals, Cathy Day on fiddle and vocals, and Ed Clement, vocals and guitar, had the place jumping with their renditions of Irish drinking songs, ballads, and laments. At times funny as in "Finnegans Wake" and at times sad and nostalgic as in "Wild Mountain Thyme." But most of the night was raucous and fun as these excellent musicians kept the crowd fully engaged. And crowded it was as every bit of space was filled with fans of Irish music from at least three surrounding states, I haven't seen a larger crowd at the Bean. The audience was encouraged to join the fun by singing the chorus on many of the songs and they happily complied. The night ended to soon when after several encores the band had to stop to allow the Bean staff to clean up and close down. Oh well, St. Paddy's Day is only twelve months away.
Note: For full screen images click on the photo.

Carol, John, Peter, Rachel, and Ed

Vicki Baker, Tim St.Jean and Cathy Day

John Gilmore, Peter Lange, and Ed Clement

Joe Val Showcase

The Rhode Island based band Southern Rhode showcased to a nearly full room at the recent Joe Val Festival in Framingham, Mass. The band of veteran bluegrass artists consists of Alex MacLeod singing lead and harmony and playing guitar, Monty McLanahan, lead and harmony vocals and picking the mandolin, Mike Kropp on banjo, and Greg Badigian on fiddle and guitar, with Tom Bowman on bass. Southern Rhode's music ranges from traditional to newgrass with some originals included in the mix. They're very tight musically and the lead vocals shared by Alex and Monty are done with feeling and sincerity, especially Rodney Crowell's "Song for Life," that song really got the audiences attention and brought forth loud applause. The group can be heard at the Wood River Inn in Carolina, R.I. on the fifth Sunday of the month. Hopefully, after the showcase exposure, they will be able to generate more gigs.

Southern Rhode

Alex MacLeod

Monty McLanahan

Mike Kropp

Greg Badigian

Amy Gallatin sings country, swing, and bluegrass and does them all well. She's a veteran of the music scene both in this country and Europe who's very confident performing before audiences of all sizes. The banter comes easy for Amy and she always gets the audience involved. She is joined by Roger Willams, a highly respected resophonic guitarist and his son J.D. Williams on mandolin and Dave Hollender on banjo with Eric Levenson on bass. That's a top flight group in any arena.

Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters

Amy Gallatin

Roger Williams

J.D. Williams

Dave Hollender

Josh Williams at Joe Val

The Josh Williams band was a huge hit at this years 27th Joe Val Festival, Josh with his powerful deep resonating voice just wowed the audience as he went through tunes from past albums. People were yelling out requests throughout his performance and he happily obliged them. His singing is as good as his guitar picking which is World Class. He also writes some of the material in his vast repertoire. Randy Barnes, the bassist for the band sings one or two also. What I like about Josh is that he puts a bluegrass sound to material that you don't often hear at bluegrass festivals, songs more likely heard at country or pop venues. He did a spectacular cover of country singer John Conlee's "Rose Colored Glasses" that had the crowd out of their seats. Good Stuff. Josh has talented sidemen in Jason McKendree on banjo and Nick Keen on mandolin.

Nick Keen

Jason McKendree

Randy Barnes

Josh Williams

Sierra Hull and Steep Canyon Rangers at Joe Val

As expected, Sierra Hull's set was dynamic, she sang cuts from her hit album "Daybreak" with feeling and sincerity making one believe the lyrics were about her own experiences, and in fact she did write seven of the songs on that album. Her mandolin picking was sensational especially on the tune she wrote named "Bombshell," which she picked with such speed and clarity it had people shaking their heads in disbelief. She was joined by some excellent pickers as well. Jake Stargel on guitar, Zach Gilmer on banjo and guitar, Jacob Eller on bass, and Christian Ward on fiddle.

Sierra Hull

Jake Stargel

Jacob Eller

Zach Gilmer

Christian Ward

When I first saw the Steep Canyon Rangers live about three years ago I was very impressed with them, I thought they were certainly first class and had a bright future in bluegrass. Everything about them, their command of the instruments, the vocals, the tight harmony, their appearance, it all said success. When they paired up with comedian, actor, and musician Steve Martin they really climbed to new heights. That pairing has brought bluegrass music to thousands of folks who might never have known what bluegrass is or how infectious it can be. Their performance was very tight and smooth and the harmonies were as good as it gets.

Woody Platt

Mike Guggino

Nicky Sanders

Charles Humphrey

Graham Sharp

Joe Sings Joe

Joe Val was a Boston native who fronted the band "Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys" back in the seventies. He was an excellent mandolin player and had a terrific high tenor voice. He helped to put the New England bluegrass scene on the map and cut several albums for Rounder Records. Joe Singleton is a huge fan of Joe Val and found the he could sing Joe's songs with credability. Singleton surrounded himself with accomplished bluegrass performers, two of whom actually played as members of the New England Bluegrass Boys with Joe Val and the band was born, since then then they've performed at several festivals and have built a large following. They were well received here at the 27th Joe Val and I'm hoping they'll become regulars at the festival. Joe Sings Joe is comprised of Rich Stillman on banjo and vocals, Dave Dillon on guitar and harmony vocals, John Roc on mandolin, Eric Levenson on bass, Laura Orshaw of fiddle, Sky Travis on dobro, and Joe Singleton singing lead and high tenor.

Joe Singleton

Rich Stillman

John Roc

Eric Levenson

Laura Orshaw

Sky Travis

Dave Dillon