Northern LightsBluegrass and Newgrass
Joe Walsh - mandolin * Bill Henry - guitar * Ben Demerath - guitar, mandolin * John Daniel - bass * Mike Barnett - fiddle Contact:
Northern Lights, the Northeast's superlative veteran string band, doesn't qualify as typical traditionalist. But over a three-decade career, the band has created its own tradition - a constant exploration of new musical territory without ever losing its acoustic and vocal bearings. From 1990's "Take You to the Sky," to 2005's "New Moon" (Fifty-Fifty Music), the band has fused an eclectic mix of traditional roots music, rock, country, soul and gospel with the high, lonesome vocal sound and instruments of bluegrass. The group, now a quintet, has performed at festivals and concert halls from coast to coast and abroad, including the Newport Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, American Folklife Center, Barns at Wolf Trap, Strawberry Music Festival, Walnut Valley Festival, Smithsonian Institute, Festival Sur la Route de Tullins (France), Bumbershoot Festival and the Winnipeg Folk Festival. They have recorded 10 albums, including "Three August Nights", a live CD with the late legendary Nashville fiddler Vassar Clements, who often performed with them, and three of their CDs reached the top ten of Bluegrass Unlimited's National Bluegrass Survey. Northern Lights performs regularly at arts council events, including series that present a wide range of musical styles, including jazz and classical, and double bills with renowned artists such as Jonathan Edwards. The two newest members of the band are Joe Walsh, the first student ever admitted to the Berklee College of Music to study mandolin, and 17-year-old fiddle prodigy Mike Barnett, who has already toured nationally with Jesse McReynolds, including performing on the Grand Ole Opry. The Nashua Telegraph has probably best described this band: "hot enough to peel the paint off your walls". About "New Moon", the Sing Out! reviewer says: "The group consistently stands out from the herd; this is no ordinary ensemble, proven again in this latest recording ..... Duck for cover; this album is dynamite, a must-have!" Northern Lights appears on the The Colorado Bluegrass Music Society 2001 A Collection of Songs from 'Bands on Call' CD courtesy of Fifty Fifty Music. TOP |
