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Colorado Quartereturns to Longstaff House………

Paul, who also plays guitar, mandolin and bass, formed the band with friends Jack Tolan (guitars, mandolin, vocals) and Eric Shedd (bass, mandolin, guitar and vocals) after winning a solo competition at the 2018 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, along with a Telluride Arts District grant to record an album. They released Anthrophony in 2019.

The trio became a foursome after meeting classically trained violinist and vocalist Anneke Dean in 2020. Sharing a love of wide-open spaces, they created Murmurations Vol. 1 as a concept album expressing their “deep reverence for these magnificent places, and the awe, respect and wonder that exude from that reverence.”

When American Songwriter magazine premiered the Vol. 1 track “Gale and Doug,” it noted the song’s “special, earthy feeling,” adding, “the musicianship exhibited is what really makes the track something extraordinary.” The beauty continues on Murmurations Vol. 2, which contains eight songs filled with intricately woven acoustic arrangements and tight harmonies that swoop and soar together just like those starlings.

Singer/songwriter Izaak Opaz is performing to benefit Montana outdoor professional guides.  Check him out at Izaakopaz.com.

After a cancelled show due to injury and another due to Covid, the Two Bit Jug Band is finally coming from Spokane.

There Ain’t Nobody Like Those Guys! …. Papa John Gilroy (1904-1973) Take it from Papa John, the 2 Bit Jug Band is one of a kind! Ken Glastre knows how to deliver those old bluesy, jazzy tunes ….. with a Bit of Fun! His finger-picking guitar playing is powerful & dazzling, his vocal story-telling memorable & entertaining. “Where do you get those songs?”, asked of Ken at a recent performance. “The garbage can!”, his response. (Think of their songs as those that others have thrown away or forgotten.) Playing the bass line is Gut Bucket Giff (that’s Michael Gifford) …. masterfully! His washtub bass sounds great, his jug juicy (that’s a good thing), his tuba fat! With his kazoo, cornet & strong harmony vocals, he’s a versatile fellow, another Bit of Fun! Their songs have roots in old blues and jazz from 1920s to the 40s, even several from the 50s and 60s! They cover universal themes – food songs, sad love songs, happy love songs, and other stuff songs. Add it all up … you got the 2 BIT JUG BAND! Recently added to the 2BJB collection on YouTube are: Buffalo Skinners; Don’t Go Reachin’ Across My Plate; Beedle Um Bum; Stealin’; Honey, It Must Be Love; Ukulele Lady; Somebody Stole My Gal

2bitposter

John Floridis, Jennifer Sladenand Ed Stalling will be performing at Longstaff House to benefit Soft Landing Missoula.  John has done benefit shows  here before and we are pleased to lend a hand helping out this worthy cause.   We welcome and celebrate cultural diversity here in Missoula.

An introduction to Soft Landing:   Here at Soft Landing, we provide a long welcome for refugee and immigrant families who arrive in Missoula eager to build a new life and put down roots of their own. We strive to work with new neighbors to tap into all the resources and wonderful opportunities this community has to offer so that we all can thrive. At Soft Landing Missoula, we believe in the power of shared human experience, the celebration of milestones big and small, and the building of cultural bridges through common languages such as food, soccer and music. https://softlandingmissoula.org

These boys have serious credentials: Ricky Skaggs, Ghrisman, Country Gentlemen., Crooked Still, Grammys, national and world fiddle champions.  It is hard to simplify the bios.  Check for your self.

KEITH LITTLE – Born and raised in the Sierra Nevada “Gold Country” foothills, Keith Little is a Grammy and IBMA Award-winning musician who is internationally recognized for his work as a singer, instrumentalist, composer, producer, recording artist, band leader, teacher and coach. Introduced to traditional music at an early age,  Keith has been a key member of many national and international touring bands with his most notable tenures as a member of The Country Gentlemen (Washington D.C.) and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (Nashville, TN). Formed in 2014 the Keith Little Band has been the focus of his performing work to date, garnering wide critical acclaim even amidst the CS-19 pandemic’s hampering effects. As a recording musician, Keith has participated in hundreds of projects, most notably with Dolly Parton on The Grass Is Blue and Little Sparrow, which both won Grammy and IBMA awards. In addition to his performing and recording work, Keith’s compositions have been recorded by Claire Lynch, Tim O’Brien, Country Gentlemen, Longview, Crystal Gayle, Vern Williams, and the Whites. http://www.keithlittle.com/

MATTHEW HARTZ  ExperienceLegendary Texas fiddle master Matthew Hartz is an Idaho native currently living in Boise, Idaho. He is a three-time Grand Masters Fiddle Champion (Nashville, TN) a two-time Grand National Fiddle Champion (Weiser, Idaho), and a two-time World Fiddle Champion (Crockett, Texas). https://www.matthewhartzmusic.com

TRISTAN CLARRIGE is a 5-time Grand Nationawhartzmusic.com/l Fiddle Champion who began music studies at the age of two. He has toured the world as the cellist with folk-grass sensation Crooked Still, chambergrass trio The Bee Eaters, and Darol Anger’s seminal group The Republic of Strings, and performed with Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky, and Cape Breton fiddle star Natalie MacMaster. Raised in a tipi in the mountains of northern California, music was always an important part of Tristan’s life.  https://tristanclaridge.com/

The Montana Standard Band is back to LSH on Sunday, October 2nd.  Check them out at Montanastandardbluegrass.com.

Aberdeenshire folksinger, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s finest singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. In 2021, she became the first singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language, leading a successful campaign to pressure Spotify into recognising Scots and add it to its list of languages. Honoured at the Scots Language Awards with the title of Speaker of the Year in 2021, Iona performs both folk and pop songs in the Scots language, remaining true to her rooting in tradition. Iona has featured in several publications including The Sunday Post, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Times. She won the title of Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in 2018 and was described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.”  (Global-Music.de)

  What began as an all-female festival collab quickly morphed into a serious passion project driven by sisterhood, harmony and humor……along with the shared desire to rage fiddle tunes and smash the patriarchy. 

 Big Richard is a neo-acoustic super group made up of four well established Colorado musicians: Bonnie Sims on mandolin (Bonnie & Taylor Sims/Everybody Loves An Outlaw/Bonnie & the Clydes), Joy Adams on cello (Nathaniel Rateliff/Darol Anger/Half Pelican), Emma Rose on bass + guitar (Sound of Honey/Daniel Rodriguez/Whippoorwill) and Eve Panning on fiddle (Lonesome Days). 

Formed in late 2021, the band gained immediate notoriety for their charismatic stage presence and their vocal/instrumental prowess.  After selling out all of their club shows Big Richard quickly started confirming festival appearances across America.  2022 is sure to be a big year!!