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Detour is an exciting and original bluegrass band hailing from Northern lower Michigan. The band blends original contemporary bluegrass sounds with great traditional favorites. Just finishing its second season, including concerts at Interlochen with The Charlie Daniels Band and the Dunegrass, Coopers’ Glen, and Wheatland Music Festivals, Detour has also been getting rave reviews for its first CD, “Radio Hill.”
The band members include:
Scott Zylstra (guitar, lead and harmony vocals), is a master of tone, taste and timing on acoustic guitar. Scott is a veteran of a number of bands throughout Michigan including the “Porkypines” and is the owner of Frontier Recording, a highly successful recording and production studio.
Zak Bunce (bass, lead and harmony vocals) started singing and playing music at an early age in one of Michigan's leading roots family bands, “Lake Effect.” Zak has also performed extensively with his sister, Rachael Davis. Zak’s powerful tone and remarkable range infuse Detour’s music with emotion and conviction.
Jeff Rose (mandolin, lead and harmony vocals) brings wonderfully fresh and original songwriting to Detour that is progressive yet inspired by tradition. Jeff’s bluegrass roots run deep in Eastern Kentucky. He toured extensively for over twenty years with “Iowa Rose,” the “High Canyon Ramblers,” and the “Porkypines.” He has also led numerous workshops on songwriting, mandolin, and guitar technique.
Peter Knupfer (fiddle) is from East Lansing and is an award-winning fiddler with over thirty years of freelance and professional practice to his credit. He toured and recorded with “’Grass, Food & Lodging,” a Milwaukee-based bluegrass band, for five years, followed by six years playing country, string swing, and Irish fiddle in a variety of bands. He has shared the stage with the likes of Byron Berline, Donald Stiernberg, Tony Trischka, Peter Ostroushko, and Tim O'Brien. He was the state old-time fiddle champ for Wisconsin (1976) and Kansas (1995).
Kevin Gaugier (banjo, lead and harmony vocals), multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gaugier's three decades of performing experience have taken him from the Eastern European shores of the Black Sea to the wilds of central Alaska where a portable generator was required to power the sound system. Kevin has performed with several mid-Michigan bands through the years, including Sweetcorn with whom he opened for country superstar Wynonna Judd before an audience of tens of thousands and also recorded the theme song for the radio program "Grass Roots" which airs weekly on Kalamazoo's WMUK. Kevin's recent performances include appearances with world-class banjoists Tony Trischka, Janet Beazley, and Bill Evans. Alternating between tasteful, sensitive fills and dazzling improvisation, Kevin's instrumental lead work is a fine complement to Detour's creative sound.
According to the Lansing State Journal Detour “may be the finest bluegrass band Michigan has yet produced.”
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