Cousin Sally Brown video from Bowregard

In addition to having one of the coolest names ever for a string band, Colorado’s Bowregard also makes a strong musical statement, blending sounds from the bluegrass and old time world into a very appealing amalgamation. Since winning the 2019 band competition at Telluride, they have toured widely throughout the state and beyond, and have nearly completed a debut recording, Arrows, expected sometime this summer.

On March 1, Bowregard performed as the opener for Sam Bush at the Boulder Theater, and hired a video crew to document the show. Here is the first piece released from those recordings, Cousin Sally Brown, one of the tunes to be included on the upcoming project. Banjo player James Armington and fiddler Colleen Heine learned this Marcus Martin number from Dirk Powell, and became enchanted with the melody. Together the band created this arrangement, starting with simple modal tune played on banjo and fiddle, before bringing the full power of a bluegrass band to bear on it onstage.

Joining Armington and Heine in Bowregard are Max Kabat on guitar, Zachary Smith on bass, and Justin Konrad on reso-guitar.

Keep an eye out for Arrows once things return more to normalcy later this year.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.