Blues Traveler, Nickel Creek, Gaelic Storm, Luka Bloom, The Clare Voyants, The Indulgers, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Bill Monroe, Tim O'Brien, Chris Thile, Robinella and the CC String Band, The Chieftains, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, Iron & Wine
Sounds Like
People tend to tell me I play the mandolin like Jerry Garcia plays the Guitar, but I can't stand the Grateful Dead so I don't know exactly how to take that. In terms of harmonica, I try to find a balance between the wild "blow-fast-and-collapse-from-oxygen-deprivation" sounds of John Popper and Paul Butterfield with a more traditional Blues sound of Little Walter and Taj Mahal.
Here's a sample of my harmonica playing, doing backup for Paul Knight:
And from the same performance, covers of "If You Could Only See" by Tonic, and "For what its worth" by Buffalo Springfield on electric Mandolin:
Tristan Schwartz is one of those "marching to a different accordian" musicians who would never "make it" in the world of popular music, and that's just the way he likes it.
Getting his start as a self-taught harmonica and mandolin player, Tristan got bitten by the live folk music bug by attending Irish folk seisuns at the now-defunct Bandersnatch Brewpub in Tempe, a motley performance night hosted by a disreputable band of miscreants known as "Allanah." Eventually, Tristan started regularly playing backup mandolin and harmonica with Paul Knight of Allanah, and eventually wormed his way into the band (which is now known as "Four for Naught").
Tristan has recently completed songwriting and trad selection for a solo record. Tentatively titled Derailment, the album will be a blend of original blues/rock and bluegrass songs, along with an assortment of familiar traditional Celtic and American folk music played in a style you've never imagined. Recording will hopefully begin "whenever I fucking get around to it."
Through his sonic experiments, Tristan now has a veritable arsenal of instruments he can correctly manipulate to produce melodic tones. These instruments include:
It should be stated for the record that while he can fluently play many of these instruments, he still can't read music. I guess every supergenius must have their own personal kryptonite.
Tristan Schwartz is currently pursuing a degree in vertebrate paleontology.
