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| Hometown | Allston, MA |
| Genres | Americana / Alt Country, Folk |
| Band Members | Maggie Mackay; Alex Muri; Suzanne Oleson; Mike Reese; |
| Achievements |
» more |
| Upcoming Shows | None |
| Contact Information: |
Artist / Band Member
Maggie MacKay band@chasingblueband.com 857-445-7276 |
| # Years Experience Performing Live: | 3 |
| # Live Perfomances Past Six-months: | 25 |
| Market Draw: | Home Market: 31-50; Festival: 800+ |
| Venue History: | Laurie Blue Bluegrass Festival - Summerside, CA:PE Berklee Performance Center - Boston, MA The Music Barn - Middle Sackville, CA:PE Patsy's Cowgirl Cafe - Austin, TX Threadgills - Austin, TX Fiddler's Green Music Shop - Austin, TX GREY FOX Bluegrass Festival - Oak Hill, NY IBMA Fanfest & Business Convention - Nashville, TN IBMA World of Bluegrass - Nashville, TN All Asia Bar - Cambridge, MA Botticelli's - Austin, TX Cafe Luna - Cambridge, MA Joe Val Bluegrass Festival - Framingham, MA Flatland Bluegrass Barn - West College Corner, IN Cantab Lounge - Cambridge, MA Opal Divine's - Austin, TX Podunk Bluegrass Festival - East Hartford, CT The Firebox Restaurant - Hartford, CT Cafe 939 @ Berklee College of Music - Boston, MA Saxon Pub - Austin, TX Poodies Hilltop - Spicewood, Tx Salt Lick Pavilion - Driftwood, TX Momo's Club - Austin, TX Ossipee Valley Music Festival - Hiram, ME Old Orchard Inn - Wolfville, NS Middle East Downstairs - Boston, MA |
| Opener Experience: | Bob Schneider; Jon Dee Graham; Baker Thomas Band; Hey Mama; Girls, Guns & Glory; Mark Mandeville & Old Constitution; Ray Bonneville |
| Similar Artists: | Lonesome River Band; Crooked Still; Uncle Earl; Bob Wills; The Infamous Stringdusters; Gillian Welch; The Greencards; Tim O'Brien; Hot Rize; Patty Griffin; Robert Plant & the Band of Joy; The Wood Brothers |
| Performing Rights Society: | BMI |
| Discography: | Chasing Blue LP—2011; Chasing Blue EP EP—2010 |
Chasing Blue is a hard-driving bluegrass band made up of young and talented musicians. Band members have experience in blues, funk, rock, jazz, Texas swing and traditional Canadian fiddle tunes, and they bring these flavors to the Chasing Blue sound....
Chasing Blue is a hard-driving bluegrass band made up of young and talented musicians. Band members have experience in blues, funk, rock, jazz, Texas swing and traditional Canadian fiddle tunes, and they bring these flavors to the Chasing Blue sound. Original material includes strong instrumentals, and memorable songs with honest lyrical ideas. Their bluegrass influences include the Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Lonesome River Band, Tim O’Brien, and The Infamous Stringdusters.
Members of Chasing Blue met in a Berklee College of Music bluegrass ensemble in the fall of 2008. After a successful end-of-semester-performance, appearing as “Slim Wallet and the No Dough Boys,” the band decided to change names and continue picking together. Now graduated, Chasing Blue plays a mix of original and traditional material with unique arrangements and foot-stomping style.
These amazing musicians were tapped to headline the Laurie Blue Bluegrass Festival in (Summerside, PEI, Canada) were also a main stage artist for Worcester, MA’s stART on the Street Festival. They were showcased at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Fan Fest for three years.
They have played the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival (Framingham, MA), the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (Oak Hill, NY), the Down East Country Fest (Whitneyville, ME), Pocono Winterfest (Stroudsburg, PA), the Podunk Music Festival (East Hartford, CT), the Bluegrass on the Bogs festival (Wareham, MA), the Ossipee Valley Music Festival (S. Hiram, ME). and the Saddleback Mountain Bluegrass Festival (Saddleback, ME). They will play the Mountain View Bluegrass Festival (Mountain View, AR) in November 2011.
In addition to festivals, Chasing Blue has played numerous venues such as the Saxon Pub, Continental Club, Threadgill’s and Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe (Austin, TX), the Cantab Lounge (Cambridge MA), the Middle East Downstairs (Boston, MA), the Firebox (Hartford, CT), the Flatland Bluegrass Barn (West College Corner, IN) and the Music Barn (Middle Sackville, PEI, Canada).
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Talented young bands seem to pop up like weeds these days. Every time I turn around, there is another CD from a group that appears to have come out of nowhere, at least on a national level. Just...
Headlining act Chasing Blue, from Boston, is in its element playing live and getting spectators on their feet. If you catch the headline act Chasing Blue at the Lyons Fiddle Festival this weekend,... Talented young bands seem to pop up like weeds these days. Every time I turn around, there is another CD from a group that appears to have come out of nowhere, at least on a national level.
Just such a band is Chasing Blue, a quartet that met during a bluegrass ensemble class at the Berklee College of Music in 2008. At the end of the semester, the four of them played a local bar gig after the ensemble recital. They all had a good time, and people liked the music, so they formed an official group which has endured beyond graduation.
On their latest album, Low Valley, mandolinist Suzanne Oleson shows herself a force to be reckoned with, as both a vocalist and songwriter. And so does her bandmate, guitarist Michael Reese. With the assistance of banjo picker Maggie MacKay, they have written 9 of the 10 songs here, performed brilliantly with Alex Muri on bass.
Reese and Muri shine instrumentally, as does guest fiddler Trent Freeman, but it is the songs that grab your attention. They range from solid bluegrass and mountain music, to acoustic rock, fiddle tune and various folk styles.
As you might imagine, the songs reflect sensibilities of importance to twenty-somethings, but regardless of topic or stylistic focus, the songs are crisp and clever, and sung with passion, artistry, and conviction.
Oleson has a most particular knack for lyrics, and a unique sense of melody. Add to that her endearingly quirky voice and you sense a real star quality in this young lady, who I hope will stay in the bluegrass orbit as she matures and develops as an artist.
Perhaps the album’s strongest track is one she wrote, Two Broken Wings, which has something of a Celtic feel, and reflects the interesting hybrid sound that Boston acoustic bands have pioneered in recent years.
Or maybe the strongest is My Drug, which she wrote with Maggie. It’s a perfectly female look at the realization that a stalled relationship is doomed, with especially inspired lyrics.
I got a high for every day of the week And I’ve got a pill that’s gonna make me sleep. I’m a little user and no one’s gonna tell.
I put a cigarette in your mouth To keep you quiet as I walked out. Two years is long enough, don’t you think?
Or maybe Ellen is my favorite, again from Oleson and McKay, one that turns the familiar murder ballad upside down. The cheating lover goes down as per the formula, but this time it’s the woman whose man she stole who does the deed.
Reese’s voice is clear and powerful, and he is equally comfortable with bluegrass and the two more rock-inflected numbers: Queen City Feel, which he wrote with McKay, and Oleson’s Red Wine Rock and Roll. A Cincinnati native, he renders the party ballad about the Queen City where he was raised with an impressive Lowell George snarl.
Michael also shines on the record’s lone instrumental, a guitar tune he wrote, and as vocalist on the closing track, Let’s Start Tomorrow, written by all four members.
Though not featured on the CD, Danny Musher is now touring with Chasing Blue on fiddle.
There are several radio-friendly tracks here that would be right at home on most any bluegrass, folk or Americana show. Programmers can contact the band to obtain a copy for airplay. It is available for sale at CD Baby and in iTunes.
Low Valley is a superb record, worthy of the attention of anyone interested in where the next generation of acoustic string artists are taking our beloved bluegrass music.
Headlining act Chasing Blue, from Boston, is in its element playing live and getting spectators on their feet.
If you catch the headline act Chasing Blue at the Lyons Fiddle Festival this weekend, be prepared to have fun - lots of it. After all, that's the unofficial calling card for the Boston-based quartet.
We all have so much fun playing together," said Mike Reese, who handles guitar and vocals for the band. "We write a set playlist but never follow it. We like to get up there and make sure we're having fun."
This will be the first time that Chasing Blue will be performing at the 29th annual fest, which will be held Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lyons Community Park. (Rain date is Sept. 23.) Proceeds from the festival benefit the park and the community.
In addition to Chasing Blue (performing at noon), live entertainment will be provided by Ari and Mia, also from the Boston area; the Zepp Family Band, from East Texas, Pa.; and Kendal Conrad from Pottstown.
The festival will also include open fiddle and yodeling contests, Pennsylvania Dutch-style cooking featuring iron kettle soups and a pig roast, craft vendors, a bluegrass gospel service, a quilt raffle and impromptu "jammers" roaming the grounds.
Admission is $2, free to children under 12. Festival-goers are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs.
If Mike Reese and his Chasing Blue companions have their way, few people will be in their chairs when the band takes the stage. Playing a mix of original and traditional bluegrass material with unique arrangements and hard-driving style, Chasing Blue is in its element when playing live, Reese said.
The group averages two to three live shows a week, playing up and down the East Coast, as far west as Texas, and as far north as Canada. Rounding out the quartet are Suzanne Oleson, mandolin and vocals; Maggie MacKay on banjo; and Alex Muri on bass.
Chasing Blue came together in the fall of 2008 at a bluegrass ensemble at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
The musicians, who range in age from 22 to 24, perform at festivals, private parties, weddings and charitable events throughout the year.
They also pursue other musical and non-musical interests when not together.
Wherever there are people who enjoy bluegrass music, that's where we'll be," Reese said.
Although they spend most of their performing time on the road, the band members have released a self-titled EP and are putting the final wraps on an album entitled "Low Valley," according to Reese. The 10-track production, which was recorded in Nova Scotia in May, will feature all original material, he noted.
The band didn't dillydally in the recording studio, Reese said.
We knew what we wanted to do and laid it down and that was basically it," he added.
Crowd-funding website Kickstarter has caught fire with Hub creative types, helping them pay for records, films, books, graphic novels and other artistic endeavors that might not otherwise see the light of day in a tough economy.
“Word about Kickstarter spread like wildfire through creative people — graphic designers, illustrators, cartoonists,” said John A. Walsh, a South End illustrator who raised $5,800 on Kickstarter to make the historical fiction graphic novel “Go Home Paddy.” “It’s been bubbling and bubbling.”
Maggie MacKay, banjo player for Boston bluegrass band Chasing Blue, is using the site to raise money to record the band’s first full-length album. She heard about Kickstarter through other local bluegrass bands, such as Della Mae, which raised $11,700 to record an album in June.
“We’ve gotten a lot of backers you wouldn’t expect — friends of friends and people you don’t even know,” she said.
As of late last week, Chasing Blue had raised just under $1,500 from 25 people to pay for studio time and a producer’s fee.
“This is going to be radio-quality, a full 10 songs,” MacKay said. MacKay couldn’t see another way for the band, who met at Berklee College of Music, to fund the recording.
“I don’t know if we’d be able to,” she said. “I guess we’d just be pinching pennies. It would be impossible for us to raise that kind of money at this point.”
About halfway through the 30-day period Kickstarter gives you to reach the target, the band is halfway to the its goal of $3,000 by Jan. 20.
“I think we’re going to make it,” MacKay said. “I think a lot of people we know are holding out till the end — they’re adrenaline junkies or something.”
Walsh, who exceeded his goal by more than $800, said the donations started fast, and hit a lull in the middle, leaving him sweating bullets before another surge toward the end. Since Kickstarter gives you a goose egg if you don’t hit your goal, Walsh was worried he’d look like a failure, but said he’s since heard the pattern was typical.
“I was nervous,” he said. “I would’ve been a fool if I thought, ‘Oh, I got this.’ Plus, I’m Irish, so I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
The money frees Walsh to work on the pages of the online comic, which he said will take him a couple of more months to finish. “Go Home Paddy” follows Paddy Brennan, an Irishman drawn to resemble 19th century caricatures of the Irish, who arrives in Boston in 1847, at the height of the Irish Potato Famine.
“It’s already written,” he said. “But it’s time-consuming. After you’ve written it, you still have to draw it.” evolving into a new business model for writers and artists.
“When the economy went in the dumps and publishers clamped down on their wallets, this seemed like the way to go,” he said. “And you’re actively building a fan base as you go.”I was able to catch up with Chasing Blue at Threadgills Sunday Brunch on August 22nd. There was lots of laughter during this interview. They were all a real joy to hang out with. In the photo (L to R) Maggie MacKay, Suzanne Oleson, Mike Reese, Alex Muri. Photo by Steve Oleson. You guys recently played Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Grey Fox and others. Do you have any other festivals lined up? Mike: We’re playing Joe Val on the Main Stage in February. Maggie: We’ll also be at the Boston Bluegrass Union Showcase on Tuesday at IBMA. We’re playing between Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa and Special Consensus. Pretty cool. You are all students at Berklee, except Maggie (who graduated this year). I’m curious. Berklee used to be mostly jazz. Has your instruction been that of a jazz program that allows you to work on other genres or is it the other way around? Mike: It’s really open. You can go and study anything you want, depending on your instrument. A lot of guys study metal and hard rock, others study jazz and you can mix all of them together. It’s really about finding your own sound when you get up there. I read where Suzanne and Maggie were taking songwriting classes. Were those classes with Pat Pattison? Maggie: Yes, I took a couple of classes with him. He is really great. I think he knows every complicated English word to describe a rhyme. You all study different genres, songwriting, and other things…so, why did you pick bluegrass? Maggie: That’s the only thing that sounds good on the banjo. Mike: I started with bluegrass. My Dad and I were taking my sister on a trip to Nashville and we stopped at the Gibson factory. That’s when I first found out that he played the banjo. So, when we got back home I convinced him to pull the Martin from under the bed and he started showing me how it sounds. Is that his guitar you’re playing today? Mike: No actually I just got that one a few months ago. It’s an ’81 Martin with the stain top. Alex: I had done classical all my life and last semester I was doing the Celtic ensemble thing and got an offer to play with the group. I had never considered doing bluegrass before Berklee but now I love it. You’re the newest member Alex. Where are you from? Alex: Sudbury, which is about 45 outside of Boston. (interview continued in Part 2) COPYRIGHT (c) CENTRAL TEXAS BLUEGRASS ASSOCIATION
(continued from Part 1) So how do you guys choose your material? Mike: Good question. I guess it’s whatever is floating our boat at the time. Suzanne: Maggie and I write a lot. We like to do our own material and so we try to keep writing all the time. You were doing a great song called “Whiskey & Wine” as I was walking in. Who wrote that one? Suzanne: Both of us. I hate to go back to the Berklee thing but what do you think is the future of bluegrass music and did your perspective change when you went to Berklee? Suzanne: Boston is a really exciting place to be right now because of all of the colleges. There’s the New England Conservatory, Berklee and there are several roots music musicians there. It’s always evolving. People are taking music from long ago and mixing it with their new ideas making it a very interesting place for music. There aren’t many places like it in the world. There are a lot of musicians in one area. We get to jam together all the time. Mike: Since we all study different styles, jazz, rock, or whatever...it really keeps the bluegrass contemporary. The traditional rhythms are there but the little sprinkles on top give it a push to an evolving style. Alex: I think that with Berklee even having an American roots program shows their recognition of alternatives to their traditional jazz program. They are changing with the times, creating more and more opportunities. Everything ends up being a lot of fun. Maggie: They try not to bill themselves as a jazz program anymore. They call themselves a contemporary music school. So if people are playing bluegrass, they are going to teach it. Is there another CD planned for Chasing Blue? Mike: This last one turned out really good. We had a couple of engineer friends from Berklee that offered to help us out and it all came together. I think we’re going to try to add to it. We were in a rather strict time frame when we worked on it. OK. I always like to ask. What are your hobbies? Maggie: I like to paint. Suzanne: I like to study and read a lot. I’m kind of a nature girl so I like to go hiking, especially when I come home to Austin. Alex: I do love photography. All kinds, portraits, live performances, artsy and I like building stuff. I love making things, taking things apart, figuring them out and doing grunt work. Mike: I guess I’m the same with the grunt work, doing a lot of construction stuff but my biggest hobby outside of music is with automobiles and cars. We like to restore them and race them. Everybody in my family does something with cars and music. When are you all coming back to Texas? Everyone: SOON! Maggie: We’re pushing for SxSW and Old Settler’s but nothing is confirmed yet. COPYRIGHT (c) CENTRAL TEXAS BLUEGRASS ASSOCIATION
The curious, the musically inclined and the diehard bluegrass fanatics are coming to town for the 12th annual Winterfest, a celebration brought to the area by the Pocono Bluegrass and Folk Society. The Elks Club in East Stroudsburg will host the festival on Saturday and Sunday with all-acoustic concerts by both new and noted groups. Both Neil Morris and John Updike said that they are excited about two young groups that will play at Winterfest 2012. Morris is president of the Pocono Bluegrass and Folk Society, and Updike is treasurer. Both from Stroudsburg, they are members of The Lost Ramblers. Chasing Blue (a group from Boston's Berklee College of Music) is really hot," Morris said. Chasing Blue takes a progressive approach to this (music). It is an exciting young band," Updike added. The other young band is The Wallace Brothers from the Philadelphia area. "These guys play a rock-driven country bluegrass style. (Their music) is fun and unique," Updike said. They take the traditional music and stretch it into the rock and jazz and funk genres. What they do is really different," Morris said. Maggie MacKay plays banjo in Chasing Blue and also writes music for the group, which has been together since 2008. She also manages them and does their bookings. Suzie Oleson from Austin, Texas, plays mandolin; Mike Reese from Ohio plays guitar; and Alex Muri from Sudbury, Mass., plays bass. MacKay explained that a banjo has five metal strings and a snare drum head; the mandolin has eight metal strings and is tuned like a violin. Everyone in Chasing Blue has a different musical background," MacKay said. "The bass player grew up playing classical music, and the guitar player grew up with jazz in a family that was into bluegrass. Our mandolin player grew up with British pop-rock, so we all brought different elements into it." The group will record an album soon. Winterfest fun will start with an offshoot concert tonight. The Lost Ramblers and Plexigrass will play at Driebe Freight Station in Stroudsburg. The Driebe concert is new this year. Driebe Freight Station is the restored 1882 freight station of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad. The Juggernaut String Band will play at Old Mill Pub in Sciota. After the Winterfest daily activities, the music will continue both tonight and Saturday evening at the Cedar Room at Pocono Inne Town, where the Pocono Bluegrass and Folk Society has taken a block of rooms. People will be jamming both at the hotel and at the Elks Club," Updike said. "Bring any instrument you have and join in the fun, or just come and enjoy the music. Any instrument, from recorders to washboards, is welcome." On Saturday night, Pocono Inne Town will be the site of "an impromptu band contest," Updike said. The winner of the contest will play in concert at noon Sunday at the Elks Club. The talent is amazing," said Morris. "So come on down. You'll enjoy it." (article slightly edited for brevity)
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Most professional musicians get their education in the school of life, or like Jack Kerouac, "on the road." The members of Chasing Blue, a new bluegrass band based in Boston, got their training in the classroom -- at the Berklee College of Music -- before hitting the road. But their formal education has not suppressed their spontaneity or creativity in the least. In fact, Berklee, by bringing these four young people together, is at least partially responsible for fueling their new-found inspiration. Indeed, these bluegrass youngsters, already New England festival veterans after only three years together, are eager to branch out with their unique mix of original and traditional material. On Saturday, Chasing Blue will be one of the headliners at Winterfest '12, the Pocono Bluegrass & Folk Society's 12th annual bluegrass festival, based at the Elks Lodge on Washington Street in East Stroudsburg. Chasing Blue met in the fall of '08 in a Berklee bluegrass ensemble, which is essentially a faculty directed bluegrass band," related banjo player Maggie MacKay, a Nova Scotia native. "Our teacher, Dave Hollender, was very encouraging and the whole band got along so well together we decided to try and get a few gigs, and see where things went. We have since had lineup change with a new bass player, who is also a fellow Berklee student. Meeting at Berklee was definitely the only way we would have gotten together. We are literally from across the continent. Besides being from all over, we have a lot of different musical tastes, so there are a lot of different directions any of us could have gone in if we didn't have such a positive bluegrass experience at Berklee," MacKay said. The band members, all of whom are between the ages of 21 and 24, are: guitarist and vocalist Mike Reese, from Cincinnati, Ohio; mandolinist and vocalist Suzy Oleson, from Austin, Texas; bassist Alex Muri, from Sudbury, Mass., and MacKay. The relative youth of the band and the style they play are incorporated into their name. We came up with it right before our first real gig.... We had a friend suggest ‘Chasing Blue' and we all knew instantly that was the one," MacKay said. "It is one of those ‘bluegrass-isms' to have ‘blue' in the name of the band and we loved that ‘chasing' is such an active verb, we are all young and excited to be chasing our dreams and bluegrass musicians." Chasing Blue plays a mix of original and traditional bluegrass material with unique arrangements and hard-driving style. Original material holds true to the bluegrass tradition but strong lyrical ideas and progressive musical ideas make the Chasing Blue sound. "We are definitely a bluegrass band, but it's hard to say whether we are traditional or progressive because there are so many factors. We always try and be sensitive to the song, so if it's an old traditional tune, we will try and play it with respect to that, but if it's something new we wrote then we have a lot more freedom to try new more progressive things with it," MacKay said. MacKay is the first female principle banjo player to graduate from Berklee with a degree in professional music with an emphasis on songwriting and performing. Now a resident of Boston, she fuses her maritime influences with blues, rock and traditional bluegrass. She has released a short EP and is currently recording a full-length solo album of original tunes featuring Ron Stewart, Steve Thomas, Shad Cobb and David Thomas. Oleson began playing the mandolin at the age of 12 and has been lucky enough to study with world-renowned musicians including Darol Anger, John McGann and Eugene Friesen. She has shared the stage with the California Guitar Trio, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines, Billy Bright, The Two High String Band, and Bert Lams and Tom Griesgraber. Muri began playing bass at the age of six when he started studying classical music with his school orchestra. He is now the principal bassist in the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with many notable musicians including Mark O'Connor. He is now studying jazz, Celtic and bluegrass styles and is pursuing a degree in music therapy. Reese learned the bluegrass tradition from his parents, who started a family band called NewClover, in which he played the 5-string banjo. Reese has recorded and produced two bluegrass albums. Our guitar player, Mike Reese, is probably the only one in the band who really grew up on the stuff," MacKay said. "Mike can play just about anything, though, he studied a lot of jazz and funk at school. When Mike isn't playing guitar, he is playing drums, but we don't complain because it makes his rhythm playing really strong. Our mandolin player, Suzy Oleson grew up on British punk rock and is just about the biggest Beatles fanatic you will ever meet. That's definitely something that influences her singing and songwriting. She got into mandolin after listening to Chris Thile in Nickle Creek in her high school days. Our bass player, Alex Muri, is the latest to make the conversion to bluegrass. He began bass at a very young age and focused on classical studies and it wasn't until joining up with the band that he started getting into bluegrass. It's great, though, all his classical studies have made him an amazing arranger and his abilities with the bow give a whole other texture to the band." Chasing Blue has been working on material for their first album, which they hope to record in May in Nova Scotia. Using a business method that has been growing in popularity (and success), the group is soliciting financial help from fans to offset the production costs. The group is using a website called Kickstarter as a fund-raising platform. In exchange for pledges, there are rewards available, depending on the amount of the pledge. "It's actually a lot like pre-ordering a CD if you want to donate $20, which is pretty cool!" according to the Chasing Blue website.
Updated: Thursday, 09 Jun 2011, 10:28 AM CDT Published : Thursday, 09 Jun 2011, 10:28 AM CDT Austin, Tx - Chasing Blue formed in the fall of 2009 as a Bluegrass ensemble at Berklee College of Music. The band members hail from across the US and Canada and now reside in Boston. The band plays a mix of original and traditional Bluegrass material with unique arrangements and a hard-driving style. Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/good_day/live_music/Live-Music%3A-Chasing-Blue-20110609-ktbcgd#ixzz1dXgq8NvP
Boston-based Chasing Blue stops by Studio 1A to perform during Folkways with Kevin Connor.
For the second year in a row at Grey Fox, Berklee’s American Roots Music Program was represented by two fine bands, Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, and Chasing Blue. A seminar on the program by its loco pater familias, Matt Glaser, was super well attended, and Berklee musicians were seemingly everywhere, playing, camping, you name it. In a Berklee first at Grey Fox, the college presented scholarships to next summer’s Mark O’Connor Berklee Summer String Program. Our inaugural winners are ace fiddler Emma Hart, of Stamford, Connecticut, and viola whiz Julia Donahoe, of Concord, Massachusetts. We were also very pleased to meet mandolinist J.D. Williams, recipient of the Grey Fox Scholarship, who will be joining us here at Berklee in the near future. Mike Reese from Chasing Blue, and the entire Blue Moose crew, blogged about their Grey Fox Experience, and there’s some video you can see as well. Viva Grey Fox and Berklee: together forever! Hi, this is Mike Reese, guitarist from Chasing Blue. The opportunity to represent Berklee on the main stage at one of the biggest bluegrass festivals in the world, and to play on the Masters Stage… this becomes a memory that will stay with the band forever. Performing’s not the only highlight of the weekend, it’s the all night jams with the musicians that make up the scene itself. Camping next to bluegrass legend Bill Keith, sharing new songs with others, and jamming all night until the sun breaks through the hills, is what Grey Fox is all about. The main stage experience at Grey Fox started with a sudden approach from Berklee professor Dave Hollender. Dave had been asked if we could do a couple of demonstration tunes with the raffle instruments – a fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo — on the main stage, following JD Crowe and the New South. JD is a heavy hitter in the bluegrass world, and the instrument raffle money goes to the festival’s Kids Bluegrass Academy, so we couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that! The band and I put our heads together to figure out what songs to play, and what to talk about in between songs to advertise the raffle instruments. The Martin guitar I was using had no strap pin on the neck, so with minutes to spare I had to extend my strap and borrow shoelaces from Nick the stage coordinator so I could tie the other end to the headstock. I’m sure Nick was a little glad we played just two songs, so he was not without his shoelaces for too long! Stepping out on stage right after JD Crowe, to see that enormous audience, going way up the hill… that’s a view I’ll never forget! Just goes to show you that you never know when or what opportunity will be thrown at you, and you’ve got to be ready for anything… I love this industry!
Danvers — Joanne Patton hosted “Operation Troop Support Day” at her Green Meadow Farm again this year on Saturday, August 27, in Hamilton. Patton who has been an ardent supporter of the troops over the years, welcomed guests who were volunteers with Operation Troop Support, sporting blue polo shirts with logos. Many of these volunteers are veterans or have family members in active service in the country’s military branches. The farm had hay rides for the guests and a delicious lunch of homemade macaroni and cheese that one veteran exclaimed, “This is the best macaroni I’ve had in my entire life!” Music for the event was provided by Chasing Blue and refreshments by Gourmet Delights. It was a day of celebration and reflection on how military families need support during this ongoing time of conflict and war around the world. OTS had a special guest from Washington on hand during the festivities, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Military Family Association, Mary Scott. Scott spoke to the group letting them know that supporting military families is personal to her. Scott has six children all of whom have served in the military including her youngest daughter who is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and will be deployed to Afghanistan shortly. The National Military Family Association has been assisting military families for over 40 years with legislation to support their health benefits, educational opportunities, summer camp Operation Purple for military children and families. All this is funded by private donations, they take no federal money to support the efforts. Scott said, “If you have questions about how you can help the troops and their families ask Christine or Dick Moody. You are very lucky. Not every community has a Christine and Dick Moody.” Scott referring to the Danvers couple, the Moody’s, who formed the respected North Shore organization, Operation Troop Support in 2003. “In March 2003,” said Dick Moody, “My daughter called from a combat medical center asking for materials for patients to keep their minds off pain.” He and his wife collected books and magazines and mailed them off. Next, their daughter called to say patients were cold, as the medical unit did not have enough warm blankets. “We went to Linens N’ Things in Danvers to price fleece blankets, and the store manager donated 1,000 right away, which we sent directly to the hospital.” On Saturday they were collecting donations of adult-sized sized cotton socks and packaged snacks (especially gummi bears) to be boxed and sent by Operation Troop Support to troops overseas which have requested them. The reality of why military families need support was made clear when Paul Campbell of Peabody took the microphone to tell what happened when he received a call at 4 a.m., the call every military family dreads, telling him his son who was stationed in Afghanistan had been critically injured. -- Click the link to read more
Berklee College of Music returns to the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival—winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's 2009 Event of the Year Award—July 15, 16, and 17 with a lineup of events that will warm the heart of even the most jaded, crotchety afficionado of the roots music arts. Performances by top student and alumni groups, a seminar on the college's groundbreaking American Roots Music Program, and the presentation of two first-time Berklee summer scholarships will be just some of the Berklee action at Grey Fox this year. On Friday night at 7:00 pm, Chasing Blue will perform on the Masters Stage. Literally finding themselves together in a bluegrass ensemble class at Berklee in 2008, the band has been growing and morphing and having a great time ever since. A hard-driving style and a progressive take on bluegrass brought the band to last year's Grey Fox, Joe Val, and Podunk festivals and Austin's Threadgill's club, among others. Saturday at noon, Matt Glaser, artistic director of Berklee's American Roots Music Program will run the anchor leg of a workshop on the program and all things rootsy at Berklee, including sneak previews of amazing residencies at the college coming this fall. Expected to join Glaser on the Masters Stage are Joe Walsh of the Gibson Brothers, Berklee's first-ever mandolin principal; members of Chasing Blue and Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers; and possible secret, last-minute, and partially unexpected Berklee alumni guests.
Fresh from their appearances at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, notloB Folk Concerts is pleased to welcome Chasing Blue and Joe's Truck Stop to Unity Somerville in Davis Square on Friday, March 4, 2011.
CHASING BLUE
http://chasingblueband.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasing-Blue/295779833380
http://www.myspace.com/chasingblueband
Chasing Blue is plays a mix of original and traditional bluegrass material with unique arrangements and hard-driving style. Original material holds true to the bluegrass tradition but strong lyrical ideas and progressive musical ideas make the Chasing Blue sound.
Members of Chasing Blue met at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2008. Chasing Blue has since toured to Washington DC, Atlantic Canada, Nashville, Texas, and released two EPs.
Suzanne Oleson-Mandolin, Vocals. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Suzanne now attends Berklee College of Music where she majors in Professional Music with an emphasis on songwriting. Suzy began playing the mandolin at the age of 12. Suzy has performed with the California Guitar Trio, Terri Hendrix, Lloyd Maines, Billy Bright, the Two High String Band, The Greencards, and Erik Hokkanen. Suzy opened and performed with Bert Lams of the California Guitar Trio and Tom Griesgraber of Agent 22 in the summer of 2009, and will be featured on their upcoming CD where she will be playing guitar on her original composition.
Maggie MacKay-Banjo.Maggie is the first female principle banjo player to graduate from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Professional Music with an emphasis on songwriting and performing. A Nova Scotia native, now residing in Boston, Maggie fuses her maritime influences with blues, rock, and traditional bluegrass. She has released a short EP produced by Special Consensus’ Ryan Roberts and is currently recording a full-length solo album of original tunes featuring Ron Stewart, Steve Thomas, Shad Cobb, and David Thomas.
Mike Reese-Guitar, Vocals. Michael Reese was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio where he learn the bluegrass tradition from his father and mother ” Larry and Cindy Reese”. At fourteen he was excepted into the School for Creative and Performing Arts were he studied jazz guitar, and orchestral percussion. Michael and his parents, started a family bluegrass band called “NewClover”, where Mike played the 5 string banjo. Mike donated his time and talents along with his family to play at The Clovernook Center for the blind and Visually Impaired in Cincinnati, as well as Miami White Water Senior Center. Mike recorded and produced two bluegrass albums over a three year period.
Alex Muri-bass. Alex hails from Sudbury, MA and began playing bass at the age of six when he started studying classical music with his school orchestra. He now attends Berklee College of Music where he is studying jazz, celtic, and bluegrass styles and is pursuing a degree in Music Therapy.
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver Along with Chasing Blue, Lexington, MA April 28th Boston, MA -- The Boston Bluegrass Union's 37th concert season concludes on Saturday, April 28th with a rare Boston-area appearance from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA. One of the pioneering architects of contemporary bluegrass music, mandolinist and vocalist Doyle Lawson has helmed Quicksilver for over 30 years, creating a body of work that is unrivaled in its masterful blend of tradition, innovation, and vocal and instrumental precision.
Beginning his career on banjo with legendary (and legendarily demanding) bluegrass bandleader Jimmy Martin in 1963, Lawson built on Martin's hard-driving style during subsequent stints with the more eclectic, contemporary J.D. Crowe & the Kentucky Mountain Boys and the Country Gentleman. When he formed Quicksilver in 1979, audiences were immediately captured by Lawson's unique sound, which matched an uncluttered, straight-ahead rhythmic sensibility with intricate vocal harmonies drawn from his love of southern gospel quartet singing.
Dubbed the “School of Bluegrass,” Quicksilver has introduced an astonishing number of premier bluegrass musicians to the world, including Russell Moore (IIIrd Tyme Out), Jamie Dailey (Dailey & Vincent), Lou Reid (Lou Reid & Carolina, the Seldom Scene), Jim Mills (Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder), Shawn Lane (Blue Highway), Steve Gulley (Mountain Heart), Hunter Berry (Rhonda Vincent & the Rage), banjo virtuoso Scott Vestal, and many, many more. Lawson has performed along side many of bluegrass's great artists, and recently joined Quicksilver in backing up Paul Simon on a track on Simon's latest album, So Beautiful or So What. The current Quicksilver lineup is his most versatile yet, featuring Jesse Baker (banjo), Corey Hensley (guitar), Carl White (bass), Josh Swift (dobro) and Jason Barie (fiddle). Expect an accomplished, thrilling mix of soaring vocals and tight, driving instrumental arrangements—not to mention a healthy dose of humor and charm. DoyleLawson.com.
Arrive early to catch an opening set by Chasing Blue, a formidable young unit that first coalesced at the Berklee College of Music and has since made a strong impression on the regional festival circuit with their mix of classically styled bluegrass with a contemporary lyrical outlook and progressive musical ideas. Additional info on Chasing Blue at ChasingBlueBand.com.
Tickets are $29 (BBU Members $26) and can be purchased online at www.bbu.org or by mailing a check (payable to the BBU) with self-addressed stamped envelope to Boston Bluegrass Union, PO Box 650061, West Newton, MA 02465. The National Heritage Museum is located at 33 Marrett Rd. (Route 2A), Lexington, MA 02421. Doors open at 6:30pm and concert begins at 7:30pm. Directions can be found at www.monh.org or call (781) 861-6559.
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Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Boston Bluegrass Union
Chasing Blue Band
The promotional material accompanying this debut CD by the New England quintet Chasing Blue emphasizes their youth.
But while the band consists of Berklee School Of Music students and one recent graduate, their talent and poise give an ageless quality to this short six-track release.
Built around original songs, mostly written by banjoist Maggie MacKay and mandolinist Suzanne Oleson, it’s clear that the group has carefully listened to and absorbed the traditional elements of bluegrass. The two songs “It’s All Water” and “Bad Water” are the closest the group come to a progressive sound, and both make good use of folk and blues elements in the melody and lyrics. Singers Oleson and guitarist Mike Reese are an effective one-two punch, with the twist that it’s Reese who supplies the softer sound. In fact, one oddity about this CD is that Oleson’s voice takes on a pronounced edgy buzzsaw quality on the rougher-hewn songs “Whiskey & Wine” and the murder ballad “Down In West Virginia,” then softens so much on “It’s All Water” that it sounds like a different singer altogether.
Unlike many up-and-coming bands, Chasing Blue’s vocals are a strength of this unit. But, instrumentally, special attention needs to be paid to the fiddling of Trent Freeman. He’s an explosive force throughout the album, and when the CD concludes with his original instrumental “Cookin’ With Mike,” you’ll know by the end that you’ve heard something special. So it’s safe to ignore all the publicity about Chasing Blue being (according to their press kit) “New England’s premier young bluegrass band.” This is a talented and original collection of musicians, regardless of age, and I hope that time allows us to hear a lot more of what they can produce together. (Chasing Blue, www.chasingblueband.com.)
HK
Here's a snippet of the article:
Responding to popular demand, Johnson decided to add a battle of the bands. After roughly 20 groups from as far away as Pennsylvania submitted applications and samples to the contest, he narrowed the list down to six bands, five of which showed up Friday for the contest.
Each group played three songs, and the judges, including Rounder Records President Ken Irwin, deliberated before choosing two finalists from Boston, Three Tall Pines and Chasing Blue, to play another piece. The tall ones came out on top.
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So, Chasing Blue came in second in the Ossipee Valley Music Festival Band Competition, 2011. Awesome. Thanks so much to everyone at the festival!
Sherborn —
The Friends of the Sherborn Public Library are on their way to raising the $3.5 million needed for their proposed library renovation project.
The fundraising effort kicked off Saturday night where more than 100 people gathered at Silverwood Farm for bluegrass music and a barbeque.
Organizers said the event raised approximately $6,500 toward the capital campaign.
“We’ve had a great turnout and there is a cross-section of people, and everyone seems to really be enjoying themselves,” said Heather Willis, president of the Friends group, the fundraising arm of the library. “I think people are glad to come to an event where they can wear their jeans; it’s fun for people.”
“This is really the beginning of trying to draw the community into the effort of supporting the library as we work to raise money over the next three years,” said Library Director Elizabeth Johnston. “Tonight, we’re celebrating and we’re raising funds by having a good time together.”
Tickets were $75 per person and included bluegrass music by Chasing Blue on the first floor of the big red barn, and an extensive barbecue buffet on the second floor.
Supporters dined inside and outside on the deck that overlooks the popular Community Supported Agriculture fields.
“We seem to have broken the curse of the annual Arts and Crafts fair,” said trustee Mary Moore, noting the dinner took place on the date typically reserved for the crafts fair that always endured rain.
“We’ve had a great turnout,” Moore said. “There’s such a range of people — it represents everybody who loves the library. I think it’s terrific.”
“It’s a perfect night,” said Merrilee Guarini, who moved to Sherborn two years ago. “It’s a perfect way to meet new people and support the library which is such a gem.”
Guarini said her family often visits the library for children’s programs, adult resources and social events.
The planned library expansion will include a renovation of the building’s current space as well as the addition of a sizeable children’s room, updated technology and improved handicapped accessibility. The cost is expected to be close to $7 million, of which the state has promised $3.6 million.
An additional $400,000 matching grant has been set up by the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.
For more information or to contribute directly to the endowment fund, stop by the library at 4 Sanger St. or call 508-653-0770.
The next planned fundraiser is the annual Sherborn Library Arts and Crafts Fair on June 2.
July 26, 27, 28 and 29
Ossipee Valley Music Festival; Cornish, Maine
Tommy Emmanuel, two-time Grammy nominated Blue Highway, Grammy nominated Claire Lynch Band, The Boxcars, Missy Raines and the New Hip, The Hot Club of Cowtown, The Parkington Sisters, Fred Eaglesmith and the Fabulous Ginn Sisters, Town Mountain, Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, SHEL, The Defibulators, The Dirt Daubers, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West, Cribstone Bridge, Tricky Britches, Susie Burke and David Surette, Loren Barrigar & Mark Mazengarb, The Bagboys, Three Tall Pines, Chasing Blue;
http://www.ossipeevalley.comThe Summerside PEI 6th Annual Laurie Blue Memorial Bluegrass Festival will take place at the Summerside Causeway Bay Linkletter Hotel & Convention Center November 4 to 7. The Festival activities will begin Thursday evening with round the clock jamming. Friday afternoon open mic and meet and greet reception is given primarily for weekend hotel bluegrass guests, performing band members and anyone with a valid weekend armband/pass. Main stage programing will begin Friday night with Opening Ceremonies at 6:30 pm, followed by a concert. Saturday morning is reserved for instrument and vocal workshops. Saturday afternoon will include a songwriter’s circle, open mic and regular programming. Saturday night concert begins at 7 pm. Sunday church service will be at 10 am followed by a Gospel concert till noon. Sunday afternoon concert begins at 12:30 pm with open mic sets and regular programming till 4 pm. The guitar raffle is at 3 pm. Round the clock jamming will be allowed in guest rooms, hallways and designated jam rooms. Quiet areas will be the front lobby, and the rooms adjacent the restaurant block (ground floor). The featured US band this year will be Chasing Blue from Boston, Massachusetts. Also performing are Robie Arsenault & Bluegrass Bound from Moncton, NB and many of PEI’s bluegrass groups. Chasing Blue is a hard-driving bluegrass band made up of young musicians. Band members have experience in blues, funk, rock, jazz, Texas swing and traditional Canadian fiddle tunes, and bring these flavors to the Chasing Blue sound. Members of Chasing Blue met in a Berklee College of Music bluegrass ensemble in the fall of 2008. Chasing Blue plays a mix of original and traditional material with unique arrangements and hard-driving style. This event is produced by the PEI Bluegrass & Oldtime Music Society in memory of the late Laurie Blue and his Blades of Grass, PEI’s first Bluegrass Band.
Austin, TX - Chasing Blue is a hard-driving bluegrass group made of young, talented musicians. Band members have experience in blues, funk, rock, jazz, Texas swing and traditional Canadian fiddle tunes. The band's influences include the Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Lonesome River Band, Tim O'Brien and the Infamous Stringdusters. Chasing Blue plays a mix of original and traditional material with unique arrangements and hard-driving style. The group has been a main stage artist for Worcester, Massachucett's stART on the Street Festival.
Technical Requirements
Chasing Blue often uses a traditional bluegrass setup for our five-piece band, playing around a single mic, but individual mics work great too. Our set is acoustic with vocals. Be forewarned – one voice can get as loud as a Howitzer cannon.
Weddings, Large Stages (Low crowd noise): Single large diaphragm condenser (e.g. Shure KSM-32) in center. Two small diaphragm condensers (e.g. Shure SM-137) to either side for fiddle and banjo. Bass uses a DI.
Smaller Rooms (Loud Bars/Clubs): Three SM-58’s for vocals, four SM-57’s for instruments. Bass uses a DI.
Two monitors positioned around the center microphone are preferred but one will suffice.
We can provide microphones, if necessary.
Technical Requirements
Chasing Blue often uses a traditional bluegrass setup for our five-piece band, playing around a single mic, but individual mics work great too. Our set is acoustic with vocals. Be forewarned – one voice can get as loud as a Howitzer cannon.
Weddings, Large Stages (Low crowd noise): Single large diaphragm condenser (e.g. Shure KSM-32) in center. Two small diaphragm condensers (e.g. Shure SM-137) to either side for fiddle and banjo. Bass uses a DI.
Smaller Rooms (Loud Bars/Clubs): Three SM-58’s for vocals, four SM-57’s for instruments. Bass uses a DI.
Two monitors positioned around the center microphone are preferred but one will suffice.
We can provide microphones, if necessary.