"After years trumping the competition as a contest fiddler, it might not seem like there are many kinds of music that don't just roll off John Boulware's fingers like so much water.
But when he joined up last summer with local bluegrass then-trio-now-sextet Slim Pickin's, Boulware said he was forced to play outside his comfort zone.
Making his fiery fiddling work in a group setting playing jazzed-up bluegrass was certainly a challenge, but a welcome one, he said.
"I had to work at it, but it wasn't anything that was unnatural," he said. "It was just a different kind of music I hadn't looked at, a different side of bluegrass.
"(Those songs) require a lot of technical demand as far as knowing chords and scales and knowing how to improvise over them. That's really what I thrive on, musical intricacy."
Wednesday, Slim Pickin's will make its third appearance at Rhythm & Brews to open for the Chicago-based jamgrass band Cornmeal. The show will be Cornmeal's first since performing at Riverbend earlier this year.
Despite being together for just over a year, Slim Pickin's has already begun to stake its claim to stages throughout the region. They've already played on WDVX's "Blue Plate Special" radio program in Knoxville and taken the stage at Atlanta's RedLight Cafe, both coups for acoustic bands in this area.
Despite filling their sets with some covers, both of traditional songs and contemporary artists, Slim Pickin's is currently in the process of buttressing its repertoire with new original material, Boulware said.
The band splits its influences between hard-line, traditional bluegrass artists like Doc Watson and Tony Rice, progressive acts like the David Grisman Quintet and eclectic fusion bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish.
Lately, that balance has started to shift back more to the traditional side of bluegrass, but it's just as important to innovate as to acknowledge roots, Boulware said.
"It's a little bit of whatever," he said. "We try to come back to bluegrass, but it's not just another bluegrass band. It's our own unique kind of bluegrass."
Chattanooga Times Free Press 8-27-09
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"...On a brighter note, we had an opportunity to see the band Slim Pickins at T-Bones a few weeks ago, and that was fun. This band plays fun music and they have fun playing. These guys are all pickers, with a mandolin, a fiddle, a banjo, and a guitar. I don’t care if your wife just left you and took your dog, these guys will bring a smile to your face, as their kind of music is fun and contagious." - Bob Payne - www.chattanoogan.com
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Hailing from Chattanooga Tennessee, Slim Pickins is a 6-piece bluegrass band that has been opening eyes and ears across the southeast. Their fast paced, lively shows are reminiscent of the diverse musical influences that the band shares. They combine the talent, instrumentation, and song selection of a New Grass Revival, Doc Watson, or David Grisman with a high energy level not seen since the Ramones. It is this combination that pushed the band into recent nominations and subsequent awards from FYI for Best Bluegrass Band and Best Live Band. The band features John Boulware, 2006 Tennessee State Fiddle Champion, leading a group of up and coming hot shots that will leave no foot in the room untapped. Slim Pickins music is upbeat, unapologetic, and most importantly fun.
as we approached Rhythm and Brews last friday night for the awards show, the limo driver pulled up behind this great big ol' U-Haul truck with it's flashers on. our driver lays on the horn, chomping his cigar and hollering "whaatthefuchyoudoinman?" - as the truck is just stopped there, blocking traffic. "no matter" I tell him, 'no need to cause any more attention" I slip him a crisp one dollar bill and tell him to meet us at the viper room later for pick up. we hit the red carpet, amid flashes and whispers of "so, is it Binkley or Brinkley Bros.?" no time for such tom-foolery, we made the stage, telling the 2-bit doorman where he could stick his "you'll need to check those instruments" rap - the fiddle, the banjo, they my friend, are "in the band". we played our 15 minutes of fame set and were hustled back outside amidst frantic cheers and a press of curious onlookers. we hit Market St. just in time to see that big U-Haul backing it up, right to the front door, all BEEEEP-BEEEP-BEEEP-like and lo-and-behold there are those old Slim Pickens boys, just a-loadin' in trophies hand over fist, man I ain't seen a looting like that since the big rainstorm, only that time it was on the t.v. awright boys, awright - the n.b.b.
Thanks for adding me. I'll keep an eye on your page and see what your up to. Please let me know when your buying merch and I'll help ya make it look sweet and at a great price...
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Thanks so much and good luck! Bill Nishanian Music Imprints bill@musicimprints.com 615-829-6858
hey y'all- great seein ya at the fiddlefest! great songs. thanks to your guitarist for letting me use his guitar and changing my string... many karmic blessings to you. - peace, dirty dan
Hey guys, I am so excited about the Battle of the Bands this Saturday!!! You all will kick some metal head butt!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the free tickets!!( They have lots of extras, Slim Pickins' fans, just ask!!)
