Nick Stillman was born with perfect pitch, only to lose it several days later. He grew up, forgoing a promising tennis career, and finally, after losing a game of chess for the first and last time, decided to embark on the wayward way of the busker. After looking this word up in the dictionary, he said goodbye to his computer, bought a new one, and left wherever he was, to go...wherever. All joking aside, he spent the next 7 or 8 years playing fiddle on the streets of Maine, California, North Carolina, New England, Old England, Ireland, Denmark, France, and Spain, just to name a few, constantly repeating the phrases "No, this isn't Irish music," and "No, I don't know how to play the Devil Went Down to Georgia," in various local dialects. He has turned down his fair share of marriage proposals to devote himself to a life of lonely wandering, along with many of his closest friends. He had stomped his right foot 38,746 times at last count.
J.P. Harris (called more often by the nickname "Squash" his momma gave him) started playing early Country and Honky Tonk while traveling the country at 16. His love of Old Time music was inherited through his kin in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, where his family has lived since well before the Civil War. He now resides in Halifax, Vermont, where he builds custom fretless banjos, works as a restoration carpenter, and runs a small low-impact forestry operation. When he is not working at home, he can easily be found under a tattered tarp at a fiddler's convention, in a lamp-lit shack on a mountainside, or busking on the streets wherever he may be. His trademark fretless banjo sound was formed by the desire to play as close to the fiddle as possible, whether right on pitch or "between the keys." To find out more about his instruments, and how to contact J.P., check out Big Bottom Special.
Sabra Guzman remembers beginning her musical journey as a youngster, banging away at the piano, then on to the electric bass while living in Long Beach, California. By the good graces of the gods, she moved up and down the West Coast, familiarizing herself with other port towns such as Portland, Oregon and Oakland, CA. While in the Bay Area, Sabra began venturing into American Roots music when she found herself drawn to the guitar-styles and voices of country musicians such as Lefty Frizzell and Mother Maybelle Carter. Soon, with a guitar in one hand and a banjo uke in the other, she was off to France and Switzerland with the Mercury Dimes, a San Francisco-based Old Time string band, returning to the States to play more with the Dimes, and also work with the Crooked Jades. Now, on the East Coast, and as she rests for a moment in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sabra continues to indulge in this roots music as she takes in the vast Appalachian horizons, as she embarks on her late night musical larks to nearby states, and as she begins to tackle the intricacies of moving around this country without as many things as you think you may need.
Amanda Kowalski is a West Virginian living in Portland, Maine. She has one gray cat, two basses, and three cameras. Amanda spends her time eating ice cream, dancing in the living room, reading magazines on public transportation, playing bass and taking pictures. In 2006, Kowalski moved from Nashville where she worked as a touring bass player to Portland, Maine where she studied photography at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. These days, she is focusing on maintaining both interests. She shoots for publications, photographs musicians for albums and publicity material, and visually documents moments in the lives of interesting people. Musically, she has spent the past year working with Tony Trischka, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and the Flat Iron Stringband. In the past she has recorded and/or played with Uncle Earl, Adrienne Young, Roland White, Abigail Washburn, April Verch, Bela Fleck, Tyler Grant and others.
Sounds Like
"Breakin' Up Christmas/Cotton Eyed Joe" Live at Fred's Feed and Seed, Standard Deluxe. Waverly, AL. Feb 28, 2009.
"Down in the Willow Garden" Live at Standard Deluxe Fred's Feed and Seed Store, Waverly, Alabama. Feb 28, 2009
The Flat Iron Stringband plays a high-octane mix of traditional
American music, carried by fiddle, fretless banjo, guitar and bass.
Ranging from Appalachian Old-Time square dance music to 1950's Honky
Tonk, with a smattering of original takes on old standbys, Flat Iron's
heart-wrenching country-duet vocals and whoop-and-holler dance tunes
evoke a sound and emotion not often found on today's indie/folk stage. A throwback, if you will, to simpler times of mountain-country life in the hollers and foothills of the Appalachian range, yet still using the modern day approach learned from their rock and punk music influence.
"Hard Times in the Country has a good variety of tunes and songs from different sources. The harmony vocals between Sabra Guzman and J.P. Harris are something special;
they're strong and confident with elegant lines and nicely crafted harmonies,
and the stark backup is just the right contrast to set off the voices.
The instrumental tunes are well-played with energy and a danceable beat."
Hey there, St. Nicholas - Added a photo of you and I live at The Crane on to my world famous slideshow. Incidentally, some people in high places have compared this slideshow to the Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman, but that's neither here nor there. More importantly, you can't hear how out of time I was, from looking at it, nor how out of tune you were. It's these little details that one must be forever thankful for.
Anyway, I hope things are going well for you, wherever you've landed. The Flat Iron String Band sounds brilliant as ever. I'm glad to see they haven't blotted out your picture!
Thanks for the add. I will be attending the Vermont Old-Time Gathering as well. I have been involved from the beginning with the Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture in Montpelier, and teach Intro Clawhammer there. I am also on the board, and work with Jennifer Steckler who is organizing the VT OT Gathering. Can't wait to see y'all there! Ted
did yall see the back porch? its a cool place to have a jam... next time yall stop in, we will have a blow-out jam back there... the neighbors love it! good to see yall....
