Sometimes it feels like we’ve watched the Bankester family grow up on stage. When we first caught wind of their bluegrass show, there were four young girls on stage with their proud parents. Now it’s down to three, and they’ve all grown into lovely young ladies. Two are married now, starting their own young families. Where does the time go?
But unlike many family groups who are pulled apart at this age by the strains of separate lives, this bunch is still at it, with news this week of a new album, their sixth, to be released this fall on Compass Records. It will be their first without mom, Dorene, who has stepped aside from the stage show, but dad, Phil, is still on guitar with daughters Emily Pitney on fiddle, Melissa Triplett on bass, and Alysha Bankester on mandolin. Phil and the girls take turns with the singing, and Melissa’s husband, Kyle, is on banjo.
The new album was recorded by Brandon Bostic, and includes two new songs written by Melissa, and one from Emily’s husband Mo Pitney, a fast-rising young country artist. A single is expected to be released to radio in the next few weeks, with the full project hitting the streets in early October.
And like a great many groups these days, these are using a crowd funding site to both accept pre-orders, and allow fans, friends, and supporters of all kinds to have a piece of the action. An Indiegogo campaign has been launched with funding options as simple as a digital download purchase, to opportunities for autographed CDs and other band merchandise, to special CD collections and even a house concert for larger contributions.
Here’s the brief video they put together to explain the appeal…
https://vimeo.com/178074264
…and a performance video of one of the tracks to be included on the new record.
Phil also share a few studio shots of the girls, hard at work completing the recording which has been three years in coming.
You can find out more about the new album, pre-order a copy, or make a more sizable contribution, at their Indiegogo page.
