Moonshine Boogie

Brian Smith during a MOONSHINE BOOGIE recording session.

With great harmonies, unexpected instrumental twists, and stirring tales, "Moonshine Boogie" is a twelve song journey, capturing mandolinist Billy Bright, and guitarists Brian Smith, and Geoff Union as a trio, quartet, quintet, and sextet with banjo great Tony Trischka (Psychograss, etc.), fiddler Chojo Jacques (Waybacks), and upright bassist Eric Thorin (Open Road) joining them.

  1. Nobody Calls From Vegas Just To Say Hello 2:39 ( Burch, Burch, Cochran, Gosdin )
  2. Moonshine Boogie 4:15 ( G. Union )
  3. Hammerin' On 1:54 ( B. Bright )
  4. Selmerbam 3:51 ( B. Bright )
  5. Crossing The Devil's Backbone 3:56 ( B. Bright )
  6. Cold World 5:37 ( B. Bright )
  7. Listen To The Rhodedendron 5:21 ( B. Bright )
  8. Melinda 4:23 ( G. Union )
  9. Fiddlehead 2:54 ( B. Bright )
  10. Last Chance Motel 3:45 ( B. Bright )
  11. Meat Glaze 4:35 ( G. Union )
  12. The Closer 3:50 ( B. Smith )
Billy Bright : mandolin, mandola, vocals

Billy Bright, from El Paso, TX, plays mandolin, mandola, sings, and writes a lot of Two High String Band's music. Billy has played and recorded with Norman Blake, Cindy Cashdollar, Slaid Cleaves, Vassar Clements, Don Edwards, Caroline Herring, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Barbara K, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, and Verlon Thompson.

Brian Smith : finger-style guitar, vocals

Brian Smith, from Mill Hall, PA, plays finger style guitar and sings. Brian has a strong voice that is well suited to the traditional bluegrass tunes and contemporary covers that he brings to the band. Though his "main axe" is the drums, he is THE bluegrass root in Two High String Band, raised alongside his fiddling granddad, Blaine Shover.

Geoff Union : flat-pick style guitar, vocals

Geoff Union, from Fayetteville, NC, plays flatpick style guitar,sings and contributes original tunes and instrumentals to the bands repertoire. His poetic lyrics and fluid guitar style contrast colorfully with the traditional Bluegrass elements of THSBs music.

In collaboration with ...

Tony Trischka is one of the world's most innovative banjo players. Throughout his thirty year career, Tony has defied boundaries and explored a wide variety of genres commonly considered out-of-bounds for the banjo, blending his talents in the studio and on-stage with such forward thinkers as Bela Fleck, David Grisman, the Violent Femmes, members of REM, William S. Burroughs, and Leftover Salmon.

Eric Thorin, a native Coloradoan, Eric currently lives in Lyons, Colo., and plays with a variety of musicians including Hamster Theater, Matt Flinner, K.C. Groves, Manuel Molina's Combo Caliente, Open Road, the Drew Emmitt Band, and Greenwich Gulch. He played in salsa bands such as Kizumba and Conjunto Colores, toured extensively with rock act The Thugs, made up a third of the Flamenco/Indian ensemble Curandero, and toured with the Tony Furtado Band for four years. Eric also teaches bass at the Yellowstone Jazz Festival.

Wayne 'Chojo' Jacques has a musical diversity to match his personal background (part Hawaiian, born in Germany, firmly rooted in Texas, lived in Montana, now resident in the Santa Cruz Mountains). The smoky, swing/blues tones that come out of his fiddle fit well with his interpretation of bluegrass and other genres. Chojo's enjoyment of the musical unknown has led him into collaborations with countless songwriters and bands, most recently as one of the founders of the Waybacks.


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