Here’s a familiar story…
A group of guys meet up at school and form a band. It happens in every sort of music, but how often do you hear it about a bluegrass band in the northeast of England?
But that’s exactly how The Often Herd was formed. In today’s world of more universal awareness and acceptance of bluegrass, there are young people learning to play just about everywhere you look, and that includes Newcastle where these boys were living. They found each other, and launched a group they called The Kentucky Cow Tippers. It was a five-piece bluegrass band, but when their banjo man took his leave, they took on a new identity as The Often Herd.
And using the global reach of the Internet, they’ve posted videos on YouTube to share their music with the world. Rupert Hughes on guitar, Evan Davies on mandolin, Niles Krieger on fiddle, and Sam Quintana on bass are working on material for a debut album now, including this new one of Rupert’s called Cool Summer Rain.
They also created this one for a Kickstarter campaign to fund their first recording project. The guys talk a bit about how they got together, and came up with the band concept, plus their vision for this upcoming album.
What an exciting time to be in bluegrass, with the music growing all over the world. Certainly bands that record and perform in English have an advantage in reaching the larger US market, but there are a good many very talented groups throughout Europe, and also in Japan.
You can see a number of other Often Herd videos on YouTube, and follow them on Facebook.
