Jenny Little - Vocals, Bass Hank Little - Dobro, Harmonica Molly Little Wilbur - Vocals, Mandolin Austin Little - Vocals, Banjo, Guitar Bonnie Little Campbell - Vocals, Guitar
Influences
Flatt & Scruggs, The Dillards, Osborne Brothers, The Wilders, Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Johnny Horton, and any thing good and old-timey, bluegrass, or country
Sounds Like
BLUEGRASS with a heapin' helpin' of gospel and fiery mountain
tunes, with a dollop of country, old-time, and a dab of the blues for good measure
The Panhandle Polecats hail from the North Idaho panhandle where they've been pickin' and raisin' a ruckus since about 2003. They are five siblings, raised in a little mountain home on the Rathdrum Prairie and love to play music almost as much as they love to fight with each other.
JENNY LITTLE, Jenny's voice has been described as "pristine" and "angelic". She's the educated one of the band, and has played flute, viola, cello, and piano, but when she's playing bluegrass, she keeps a foot-stompin' rhythm on the doghouse bass. HANK LITTLE, the bluesman, has the smallest hat in the band and when he's out on the job (where he works as a framer) he sings at the top of his lungs until his co-workers start throwing hammers and saws at him. Luckily, his talents also include playing the Dobro and harmonica.
MOLLY LITTLE WILBUR is the shortest member of the band, but when she sings "Sheep Shearing Blues", she means it! She has sheared sheep all over North Idaho and Eastern Washington. Molly does a lot of the lead singing and all the mandolin playing in the band. AUSTIN LITTLE plays the 5-string banjo, but not as much as he would like to because he is also a student at North Idaho College (a banjo player going to college? Get outa' here!), a bad combination financially speaking. He was also recently voted "2008 Best Banjo Player" by the Inland Northwest Bluegrass Association And BONNIE LITTLE CAMPBELL, evil twin to Austin, plays a powerful rhythm guitar but she can also pick some mean licks on the ol' flat-top.
"In five short years The Panhandle Polecats have gone from being just another cute family band to being the Top Dogs (er, 'Cats) in the thriving Inland Northwest Bluegrass scene. The lightning picking, tight vocals and infectious stage presence of these five siblings have won them a devoted following throughout the region. I've seen them play in front of hundreds of people and picked with them in the middle of the night at a festival jam when no one was around, and either way it's always the same fiery enthusiasm and extrasensory connection that fuels their playing and pushes them just a little bit faster, further, deeper into a song... ("c'mon, just one more song!"). . . I love these guys!"
- Kevin Brown, host of "Front Porch Bluegrass" on KPBX, Spokane Public Radio
