Montana Rockies Bluegrass Association

Bearfooted from Alaska. Is it me, or do these girls sound a little like the Dixie Chicks?   Aren’t we lucky they’re in Montana for the Big Grass festival and we can catch them playing in Missoula Feb 19  more…

For you skiers and bluegrass lovers in the Big Sky area, you’re in for a real treat next weekend.  Big Sky Resort is hosting the 4th Annual Big Sky Big Grass with national acts Travelin’ McCourys, Crooked Still, Infamous Stringdusters and Bearfoot and regional bands Growling Old Men, Party Line and Jawbone Railroad.  Shows will run for 3-days in the Summit House, just steps from the ski lifts.

For more information check out the Big Sky website

Travelin’ McCourys on YouTube

Stillhouse Jammers on YouTube

Crooked Still – recording of “Ain’t No Grave”

Two great bands will be playing in Missoula on Friday night, February 19.  First, Alaska” Bearfoot (formerly known as Bearfoot Bluegrass) will be playing the University Theater at 8 PM.  Then, Head for the Hills will be playing at the Badlander that same evening with Cottonwood Draw opening.  I’m told that Head for the Hills will not be starting until after Bearfoot ends so there is no need to miss any music or not go to both shows.  Head for the Hills hails from the Front Range of Colorado where they have been gaining steam and musical prowess for the last couple of years.  Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon fame produced their brand new CD that they are really quite proud of.  We in Missoula are lucky to have two great bands playing in town on one night.

Don’t miss it.

Here’s a nice clip of Li’l Smokies.

You may recognize their guest fiddler former MRBA member, Rachael Wogsland (Carla’s Green, the bass player’s, daughter).  Rachael was sitting in with them while home on Christmas break.

Be sure and come out to hear these guys at our first concert next Friday!  We need your support, by attending, to make our concert series a success.

this just in from Great Falls

Stone Soup Productions presents

Who: MONTANA SLIM STRING BAND
         from San Francisco
What: original & traditional bluegrass

When: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010 @ 7 PM
Where: 1ST ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH (726 – 2nd Avenue North)
How much: $10

Tickets at: Vintage Sellers (105 Smelter Avenue in the 2J’s Complex),
- Planet Earth (116 Central Avenue),
- Penny’s
Gourmet To Go (815 Central Avenue),
- First English Lutheran Church
office (112 – 8th Street North)
- or out-of-town folks may call
406-771-1544 to reserve tickets. 

Yep, the name says Montana but they’re actually from San Francisco, and this is one very talented young outfit.  Montana Slim were in alists in the 2009 NorthWest String Summit Band Competition and they’re working their way around the western United States right now in support of their CD “Slim Pickins.”  Sandy & I were down in the Bay Area at Thanksgiving and we got to catch two brilliant sets of original bluegrass music at The Connecticut Yankee so when MSSB called to say they were going to be coming up through Montana, we figured we’d better throw a Stone Soup hoedown.

Brent McClain: mandolin, vocals
Jesse Dunn: rhythm guitar, vocals
Sean Duerr: lead acoustic guitar, vocals
Turi Hoiseth: fiddle, vocals
Dave Lockhart: upright bass

My favorite review of MSSB’s music:

“A lone mandolin announces their arrival. Like much of the full-length
debut from the Montana Slim String Band, it’s a classically high
lonesome sound adapted to something quite non-Bill Monroe. While the
pluck and snap of the instruments harks back to a fine lineage of
mountain music and bluegrass, there’s subtle modernity to their tales,
appealing boy-girl harmonies and nuanced playing. Montana Slim is a
direct descendant of fellow S.F. region granddaddies Old And In The
Way, and they exude a similar love for good songs played with open
feeling and strong sincerity. From the remodeled sea shanty that begins
this 11-track song cycle to the speedily picked ode to love’s
intoxicating fullness that closes the collection, Slim Pickins
encapsulates a very pure string band aesthetic that’s likely to flip
the wig of anyone into Hot Buttered Rum, Chatham County Line and other
contemporaries. But like these peers, there’s a personal thread
stitched into the traditional vibe, a line of color that emerges in
pockets and accents that stray off the beaten path. This ain’t no
“jam-grass” but it’s clear there’s plenty going on upstairs in this
classy, strongly musical ensemble that I think Mother Maybelle would
have loved.”

- Dennis Cook, Jambase

http://www.myspace.com/MontanaSlimMusic
Click the link above and you can listen to some of their songs.  I strongly
recommend “Don’t Fly Away” and “Whiskey Ain’t My Wife.”

This band, well… dare I say it? Yes, I do!  This band kicks butt!  Tight harmonies, solid pickin’, great original songs, and fine covers all say that the future of acoustic music is in VERY good hands with young people like Montana Slim String Band. 

Don’t look for a piece in the Trib’s Hot Ticket because once again I’ve gone and missed the deadline (d’oh!), but if I’ve learned anything in this town over the years it’s that I can always count on friends to share things around by word-of-mouth.  Your help, please?  Maybe even forward this email to some friends? 

Here’s hoping we’ll see you this Saturday night for music that’s guaranteed to chase the winter blues away!

+ Tim Christensen

I, too, am searching for a bluegrass band to play at our wedding this summer. The wedding will be on August 14 and 3 miles south of Columbia Falls. Please email me if you are interested! katie.m.pritchard@gmail.com

note from dallas.

Hi everyone, just letting you know I’m learning to Post..Phyllis is TRYING to teach me.

I’m looking for a bluegrass band to play at our wedding reception on June 19th 2010 in Red Lodge Montana. Please email me if you are interested. Thanks for your time!

-Lindsey
lcadwell33@yahoo.com

Please join us at our Winter Jam Series 2nd Saturday’s Jan-Mar

Date: Feb 13, 2010
Location:
Ruby’s Inn & Convention Center
4825 N Reserve St
Missoula, MT 59808
(406) 721-0990
Ask for the BLUEGRASS rate when making your room reservation

Description: Jam and potluck dinner
Time: Pickin’ starts at 1pm ’til midnight
Potluck: 5:30pm

There are rooms for several seperate jams to accomodate different levels and styles. If there’s an interest, we’ll have a seperate room exclusively for a celtic jam for you Irish fans.