The Angel City Bluegrass Boys are a young group of Angelenos steeped in the stylings of traditional bluegrass. Combining tight harmonies with solid instrumental base, The Angel City Bluegrass Boys are as compelling as they are lonesome. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Greg Fleischut (mandolin, vocals) and David Elsenbroich (guitar, vocals) joined forces with Southern California natives Zac Sokolow (banjo, vocals) and Jake Faulkner (bass) to form the group. Together they play a whole variety of traditional styles including straight ahead, honky tonk, and gospel. All four members of the band have been working as professional musicians in Los Angeles for several years, but both Zac and Greg have been steeped in the California bluegrass scene since they were old enough to hold their instruments. Zac, the son of legendary educator and multi-instrumentalist Fred Sokolow, started playing bluegrass festivals with his dad and consistently winning banjo competitions when he was only 11 years old. Similarly, Greg made a name for himself as one of the best young flatpick guitarists in the Bay Area, learning bluegrass when he was just 7 years old. Greg went on to study music in Los Angeles which is also where he picked up the mandolin with the Bluegrass Boys. The Angel City Bluegrass Boys currently play regularly throughout the Los Angeles area and are currently working on their next studio album.
More at: https://www.facebook.com/angelcitybluegrassboys.
Sausage Grinder, Los Angeles’ classic old-time string band, combines the traditional sounds of fiddle and banjo breakdowns with the low-down sound of country blues, topped off with a touch of ragtime and hillbilly jazz. The versatile acoustic ensemble features fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, jug, double fiddle, washboard and yodels! Sausage Grinder was formed in 2008 out of a desire to showcase the wide variety of music from Appalachia and beyond, all rooted in early America. As old-time and traditional bluegrass player Adam Tanner puts it, Sausage Grinder’s “reverence to the old 78s hasn’t restrained them from exploring even grimier nooks and crannies … unrestrained and impolite the Grinder’s performances are visceral and joyous — a blast from the past with a nod to the immediacy of the future!” Or as LA Weekly says succinctly, the band’s performance feels “reminiscent of an old Mickey Mouse cartoon.” Sausage Grinder has been a featured band at The Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention, Portland Old-Time Music Gathering, the Gainsborough Old-Time Festival (UK), the Goleta Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention, and the Los Angeles Old Time Social. The Grinders have performed and taught workshops throughout the States and Europe. Last year, Sausage Grinder member David Bragger (fiddle guru and founder of the Old-Time Tiki Parlour label) recorded the featured banjo and fiddle music for the critically-acclaimed western “Gone are the Days” which was filmed at the home of the Topanga Festival: Paramount Ranch. The members of Sausage Grinder: Chris Berry, guitar/banjo/vocals; David Bragger, fiddle/mandolin/banjo; Susan Platz, fiddle/banjo/washboard/vocals; Pat MacSwyney, mandolin, tenor banjo, tenor guitar; Timothy Riley, jug/washboard/jaw harp/saw/bagpipes/mouth harp/mandolin/guitar/vocals
More at sausagegrindermusic.com
With their debut album receiving notable acclaim, this acoustic quintet is already making waves as one of the few true crossover bluegrass bands. While it might not be that uncommon for a bluegrass band to have all five musicians singing in harmony, what sets this group apart is the clear and apparent virtuosity of their craft. Together these musicians seamlessly create a deep rooted pocket while trading ripping, flat-picked lines and sweeping solos. The live show they bring to the table is fun, fast, and an uplifting hootenanny! Jesse Olema (Fiddle) Paul Fuller (Banjo) Liam Lewis (Mandolin) Sasha Birrittella (Guitar) David Tranchina (Bass)
More at: www.hotoctober.com.
Evie Ladin Band w/ Keith Terry & Erik Pearson (neo-trad roots trio) Tenacious, innovative string musicians/dancers with a quirky neo-trad heart, the Evie Ladin Band throws down soulful folk songs with an unusual live show. While their third release, the 2016 Jump the Fire brought a feature in the San Francisco Chronicle, it’s the effusive audience response that keeps them touring around the world. The intermingling of music and dance, clever lyrics and mature arrangements, firmly grounded in deep traditions, make the ELB so potent, the performance experience a stand-out. Evie Ladin is a singer-songwriter, dancer and square dance caller and the polyrhythmic heat of Evie's clawhammer banjo has been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Keith Terry (bass, percussion, body music, vocals) is a percussionist/rhythm dancer, and the founder of the International Body Music Festival. A pioneer in contemporary Body Music, Keith produces large-scale intercultural collaborations and educational outreach. Erik Pearson (guitar, banjo, bass, vocals) plays with the Crooked Jades, storyteller Diane Ferlatte, and his solo projects. His original banjo tune Fork & File was the soundtrack for a rapids rafting scene in Sean Penn's movie Into the Wild.
More at: Evie Ladin Band.
“Our Road Keeps Rolling On.” Our region has faced more than it’s share of tragedies and challenges recently, including the Woolsey Fire that scorched our beloved Paramount Ranch. But like the spring grass and wildflowers budding among the blackened trees we find a way to move forward. Sing along with your old pal Steve Werner and his friends on songs of strength, healing and rolling down the road. As Woody said, “Nobody living can ever stop us as we go walking that freedom highway.” Grizzled Topanga veteran Steve Werner is your average everyday world-traveling biker-sailor-adventurer-folksinger-songwriter. His songs have been sung and recorded all over the world. Through the years he has shared stages with the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Mary McCaslin, Peter Yarrow and many more. His decade-long duet with Fur Dixon produced four albums of pure California folk gold.
More at: TBD
Cliff Latimer & Laura Osborn sing and play American heartland music with mandolin, banjo and guitar. Their repertory includes Old-Time Appalachian fiddle tunes and traditional songs in the manner of the Stanley Bros., the Louvin Bros. and the Carter Family. Their vocal harmonies have earned recognition at the Topanga festival and the Goleta Old Time fiddlers contest. In 2017 they were invited to perform at the California Bluegrass Associations Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley. They perform regularly around Southern California.
Casy Meikle and Austin Derryberry first met in Middle Tennessee amidst the region’s rich string band tradition. Before the two were well acquainted, they were regularly competing against one another in fiddle contests throughout the South. Austin, a native of Bedford County, Tennessee, was born into a musical family and began playing fiddle at a young age. Heavily influenced by the old time fiddlers of his home state, he excelled in his knowledge of the instrument and acquired a strong repertoire of traditional tunes. Casy was first introduced to oldtime music after being given a fiddle in high school on the west coast. He moved to Middle Tennessee shortly thereafter, quickly making close friends within the regional oldtime music community and learning the distinct styles of the American string band traditions.
GRASSLANDS is an award-winning bluegrass band based in southern California. A favorite at bluegrass festivals, local venues, and private parties, the five member band includes: Shelah Spiegel- fiddle/vocals, Jim Cooper-guitar/vocals, Tim O'Brien-resonator slide guitar (Dobro)/vocals, Keith Chagnon-banjo, Dennis Witcher-bass, They represent the best of the Orange and Los Angeles Counties' bluegrass musicians. They play an eclectic mixture of traditional and new Bluegrass, Swing, Country and Rock'N'Roll classics, all performed in a bluegrass fashion.
More at: Grasslands Southern California Bluegrass.
Ikes Creek formed in 2017 with the chance encounter of 3 musicians, Korey Simeone, Mark Sanfilippo and Gabe Davis. Combining great songwriting, bluesy vocals and virtuosic instrumental skills of Simeone and the driving rhythm section of Sanfilippo and Davis, the 3 recognized the unique power of the acoustic trio. Later adding Thomas Moose on guitar and mandolin and Cori Cable Kidder on co-lead, IKES CREEK took 1st place in the Best Band Category at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest. Clearly, IKES CREEK is already being recognized as a critical new voice on the Roots Americana scene of SoCal. The band's debut album is scheduled to release in early 2019.
More at: IkesCreek.
The Temple Street Quartet is a Los Angeles based string band that plays an eclectic mix of musical styles from the late
19th and early 20th century. Formed in 2016, the band specializes in interpreting songs that challenge the expectations
of what a string band should sound like. Formed by multi-instrumentalist and 78 collector Frank Fairfield, the quartet
is comprised of Frank, Zac Sokolow, and David Elsenbroich, who all alternate between guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjos,
along with Jake Faulkner on the double bass. The four Angeleno musicians have all played in different groups together
for years, Frank and Zac touring as a duo, Jake and Zac in their band The Americans, but this is their first time in this
configuration playing some of the music that is closest to their hearts. Describing exactly what genre or style that they
play has always been a struggle since their selections vary so widely, ranging from American ragtime to Brazilian choros
to Italian mazurkas. Instead, they think of the quartet as a sort of shared passion project, using the string band idiom
to stretch out and push themselves musically, and perhaps more importantly, to share the music that they care most about
with audiences who likely wouldn’t have heard it otherwise.
More at: Temple Street Quartet.
More at: Frank Fairfield.
Cowboy Music and Poetry
Mike will be playing with Trailmix, featuring Fred Sokolow, selections from "The West of my Live".
He is a founding member and advisory board member for the Western Music Association. His background includes Broadcasting
for KCRW and KCSN FM in Los Angeles & KBBQ in Ventura, CA. Mike was one of three that began the McCabes Concert Series in
1969 and began performing at Topanga with the band Trailmix back in 1980. Mike and Trailmix perform traditional and
contemporary Cowboy and Western Swing. Mike regularly hosts the Cowboy Music and Poetry segment at the Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest.
Best known as the author of hundreds of instruction books and videos for stringed instruments, Fred Sokolow has been a fixture on the acoustic music scene in California since the early 60s, and his association with Brantley Kearns goes back that far. Fiddler/vocalist Kearns, a legend in the bluegrass world, is also known for his several years touring and recording with Dwight Yoakam. Fred's son Zac Sokolow, is a multi-string wizard Nowadays his band, The Americans, tours worldwide, but at age 14 he found the time to record with Fred and Brantley, so they will play songs from that album, accompanied by Fred's wife, bassist Lynn Shipley Sokolow. She currently plays with The Rattlesnakes among other bands and has several CDs with Sugar in the Gourd.
More at: Sokolow Music.
