mandolin

Mando Greats! The Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble

Kayla

Current-Line up for HMEKicking off the new year, Mandorichard spoke with fellow mandolin player Henry Koretzky, a member of The Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble. Koretzky and Mandorichard discussed the band’s origins, the history of the mandolin and the instruments that each member of the band plays. Their shared love of the various instruments in the mandolin family produces sounds closely related to bluegrass and jazz music.

In this interview, Koretzky sheds some light on the mandolin and its role in American orchestral history along with other facts about the band. Check it out below!

Photo courtesy of The Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble: (L-R) Greg Rohrer, Pete Netznik, Kevin Neidig (front), Henry Koretzky, Tom Cook

The Interview

Henry Koretzky of The Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble, Recorded live on WVUD, Jan. 5, 2016; Host: Mandorichard
33:22
32M

The Music

Artist Song Source Year
Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Something Snappy Recorded Live Oct. 4, 2015, at Delaware Nature Society’s Harvest Moon Festival  2015
Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Flatbush Waltz, Natasha’s Waltz Recorded Live Oct. 4, 2015, at Delaware Nature Society’s Harvest Moon Festival  2015
Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Waterbound Demo @ Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Website   2011
Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Moonflowers Demo @ Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble Website   2011

 

Pure Poison and Family Gospel

Sarah

Sarah HarrisIt’s a familiar story. Mike and Lisa meet in church, fall in love, get married, have three kids, give their oldest daughter guitar lessons…

And by 2011 have started touring the continental US as a family bluegrass group.

Not so familiar then. Today on the Music Room we talked to Sarah Harris, a “ray of sunshine” from Callahan, FL and lead singer and mandolinist of the Trinity River Band.

The Trinity River Band is a bluegrass/gospel group that incorporates various genres into their music, including Irish American folk and 80s rock. For this versatility, they have earned worldwide radio broadcasts, and “Better than Blue,” from their eponymous 2014 album, peaked on the Bluegrass Today Weekly National Survey at #4.

Within that album appears Sarah’s song “Pure Poison,” which she wrote for her brother John, the group’s banjo player who also wields a variety of musical instruments.

We also spoke with Sarah about the influence of gospel on country, traveling on the road as a family, her appearance on Alex Rutledge’s TV show Bloodlines, and Brianna, the youngest member, who plays the fiddle and turns 13 tomorrow. All the best!

Be sure to stay posted; they tour the Northeast this summer, and their new album Heartstrings comes out this May.

The Interview

Sarah Harris
(Recorded live 02/24/15; host: Mandorichard), 29:59, 29.3 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
  • Trinity River Band / Bearfoot Breakdown / Better than Blue / 2014
  • Trinity River Band / Pure Poison / Better than Blue / 2014
  • Trinity River Band / Near the Cross (excerpt) / Bluegrass on the Plains Festival / 2013 (Excerpt)
  • Trinity River Band / Better than Blue / Better than Blue/ 2014

Darren Nicholson: Papertown

Philip

nicholsonimageOn this edition of The Music Room, we spoke with Grammy Award nominated musician Darren Nicholson, the mandolin player of the bluegrass group Balsam Range. After being involved in over 25 albums released since 2002, collaborating with bands including Hazel Creek, The Crowe Brothers, the Alecia Nugent Band , and Audie Blaylock and Redline, Darren gives us a veteran’s perspective of the Bluegrass scene.

Over the course of the interview, we discuss the passion and friendly nature of the bluegrass community, Darren and his band mates’ experience living in Canton, NC, and how that influenced their album Papertown, and he previews their upcoming CD, expected in June of 2014. Darren also commented on several of the songs from Papertown, including the Gospel number “Row by Row.”

For more information, you can visit Darren’s website, Balsam Range’s website, and the homepage for the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, where he and Balsam Range are scheduled to play this summer.

The Interview

Darren Nicholson (Recorded 3/05/14; original broadcast date: 3/25/14; host: Mandorichard), 21:45, 21.0 MB. (Note: The songs released on Mountain Home/Crossroads were played in full on the radio broadcast, but are excerpted in the podcast version.)

Cover to Darren Nicholson's solo project

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • Darren Nicholson / Sugar Creek Gap / Things Left Undone / Bearded Baby Productions / 2013
  • Balsam Range / East Virginia Blues / Trains I Missed / Mountain Home, Crossroads / 2010 / Excerpt included in podcast
  • Balsam Range / Papertown / Papertown / Mountain Home, Crossroads / 2012 / Excerpt included in podcast
  • Balsam Range / Row by Row / Papertown / Mountain Home, Crossroads / 2012 / Excerpt included in podcast
  • Balsam Range / Born Ramblin’ Man / Papertown / Mountain Home, Crossroads / 2012 / Excerpt included in podcast