Track Premiere: Bent Creek from Julian Pinelli

The last time we mentioned the music of Julian Pinelli, he was still a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. The young fiddler had won the 2016 Fletcher Bright Award, given each year to an outstanding musician in the strings department, which covers a semester’s tuition at the prestigious school.

Now a graduate of Berklee, Julian is embarking on a career of his own, starting with a solo project, Bent Creek, set for a May 31 release.

We asked Pinelli to fill us in a bit on life post-Berklee…

“A few months ago I relocated to Nashville from Boston, which has been great so far. Not only is there an overwhelming abundance of great fiddlers and musicians to learn from here, but I am much closer to my hometown of Asheville, NC where I often go to play gigs. Since graduation, I’ve toured a lot with cellist Ben Sollee in a string band project called Kentucky Native. It’s been a lot of fun, and one of the most creative and collaborative sideman gigs imaginable. Things have wound down with that group and I am really excited to be focusing on my own projects. I booked a short tour around the release of my album and I am beyond excited to play live with this ensemble of phenomenal young acoustic musicians.”

He has also agreed to share the opening and title track from Bent Creek with our readers. It’s a modern fiddle tune he wrote, recorded with support from Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Matthew Davis on banjo, Sam Leslie on guitar, and Dan Klingsberg on bass.

Quite impressive. Keep an eye on this young picker.

Pre-orders for Bent Creek are available now at bandcamp.

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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.