Greg Liszt has been leading an unusual life. Born in Charlottesville, VA, he went to college at Yale and got a Ph.D. from MIT in Molecular Biology. He then immediately retired from science and went on tour playing banjo for Bruce Springsteen. Along the way, Greg developed a new four-fingered banjo picking technique (the other players use three). He currently tours full time in the alt-bluegrass/chambergrass band Crooked Still.
Stash Wyslouch grew up on heavy metal music. Actually, he may be the missing link between acoustic music and over-electrified thrash metal. Stash (which is short for Stanislaw) really enjoys raking the guitar and screaming in harmony at the top of his vocal range. He also plays with Eric Robertson and the Boston Boys as well as Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers.
Dominick Leslie, 20, is a former child prodigy of the mandolin. Many of his notable achievements occurred before the age of 16. His mandolin playing is often described as both "supertasteful" and "ridonkulous", which is amazing because those words are opposites. He lives in Boston and tours extensively. He's appeared here before with Missy Raines & The New Hip and The Bee Eaters.
Mike Barnett is living the dream. When he was 15 he toured as the fiddler for bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds. These days he tours with the David Grisman Quintet and the Tony Trischka Band. He's developing quite a vocal range and is a talented jazz fiddler, currently enrolled in Berklee College of Music.
Sam Grisman is the son of mandolinist David Grisman, who personally trained the boy in the ways of bluegrass and related music, so he has the home field advantage for this concert. Sam has been playing bass gigs for pretty much his whole life. Somehow he has fused traditional bluegrass bass technique with a very modern choice of notes, which sometimes causes listeners to play air double bass. Not something you see every day.
Opening the evening is the Seattle old-time duo Cahalen Morrison & Eli West. With a handful of acoustic instruments and the clear harmonies of bluegrass song traditions, Cahalen and Eli have created an entirely new strain of roots music. Their sound crosses the warmth of old-time with the fierceness of bluegrass, and high lonesome harmonies that would fit into any evening at the Opry.
Here's The Deadly Gentlemen:
...and Cahalen Morrison & Eli West
Read more:The Deadly Gentlemen, Cahalen Morrison & Eli West
