Fri. 5/13, 8pm, $15: Concert!**
The Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 West 24th St., 90007
**pre-sale tix available here.
Gene Burdo with Tom Sauber:
Gene Burdo was born and raised in rural Western Massachusetts on a farm to a musical family that played piano, fiddle, and guitar. He attended local schools and graduated from the technical high school. He then enlisted into U.S. Air Force during the Korean war as an aircraft mechanic crew chief, and eventually served in Riverside, Ca where he met his wife of 54 years Dorothy. Has three grown children all of whom play music. He likes playing and singing old time string music, old country ballads, old style bluegrass. He is an experienced instrument repair man, and has a small collection (some say it IS NOT small).
Tom Sauber does it all, and you won’t hear anyone do it better. He’s a master musician in a variety of styles, a multi-instrumentalist (banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin) and singer, well grounded in tradition, with a comprehensive grasp of style and an exceptional ability to teach. In the 30-plus years Tom has devoted to playing traditional music, the cast of characters with whom he has associated reads like a who’s who in old-time, bluegrass, and Cajun music. He is particularly known for his long-time partnerships with Oklahoma fiddler Earl Collins (with whom he recorded the classic LP That’s Earl) and North Carolina banjo picker Eddie Lowe, both now deceased.
*****
Evie Ladin plays old-time banjo. The whomp and jive of her clawhammer style, Evie’s resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance – have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the backyard to the mainstage. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours solo, as a duet or with her new quartet Evil Diane, supporting her solo debut release Float Downstream. Produced by famed mandolinist/composer Mike Marshall and percussion master Keith Terry, Sing Out! magazine reports “Solid song craft performed wonderfully end to end…Very strongly recommended.”
*****
Old Sledge is a group of young musicians from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Blowing the dust off old tunes and songs from the golden era of early country, hillbilly and blues music, Old Sledge represents the best and brightest of the new generation of traditional musicians from the south. Far from being re-enactors of old time music they bring creative arrangements and dynamic performances while still holding true to the mountain aesthetic in which they are rooted.
The band has a powerful combination of excellent singing and instrumentals. Their repertoire spans the gamut of old time country and blues music, moving from virtuosic fiddle tunes to Appalachian murder ballads to greasy blues. The band is quickly gaining notoriety, not only as a great performance ensemble, but also as a torchbearer of traditional music.
Members of the band have sought out and mentored with the old masters of traditional music, soaking up not only the tunes but also the authentic style and spirit of old time music. Collectively, the band has won numerous awards for their music including the West Virginia Fiddle and Banjo championships, as well as 1st place at The Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop, WV). Members have performed in such prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center, The Barbican, Carnegie Hall, and starred in the BBC television production “Folk America”.
Old Sledge performs in a variety of settings including festivals, concerts and dances. They also lead workshops in traditional Appalachian singing and playing and have been faculty at the Augusta Heritage Center, Pinewoods Dance Camp, Allegheny Echoes, Cowan Creek and Champlain Valley Folk Festival.