Drawing sustenance from the deep roots of traditional American music, these four youths of Portland, OR, have grown from a sapling quartet of street musicians to towering oak of musical energy. Priding themselves on an eclectic musical palette that transcends their American roots instrumentation (upright bass, guitar, mandolin,banjo), they inspire audiences to live, love, dance, and sing at every show. Hearts will be broken, mended, then uplifted by the soulful, heartfelt lyrics of these modern day troubadours. Stomp your feet and raise your glass, 'cuz this ain't your pappy's bluegrass.

“A good song has a way of speaking to everybody” Danny Barnes says. “I have faith that more people are going to hear my songs, which is really what I have to offer. I’m not one of those virtuoso instrumentalists, I can’t compete with those guys, but the one thing I can do is write really good songs.”

Part Southern gentleman, part humble artist, Barnes is being more than a bit self-effacing with this statement. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and genre-bending artists of his craft, Barnes' musical interests are both varied and adventurous, and he incorporates that versatility into a progressive approach to an instrument that is musically polarizing and steeped in tradition. Although he demonstrates an appreciation for the history of the bluegrass, country, and folk music from which the banjo's reputation was born, his inventive take is what truly separates him from his contemporaries…using the banjo as his ‘weapon of choice’ to play non-traditional music like rock, fusion, and jazz with electronic percussion and loop elements.

He has come to redefine the banjo’s perceived image in an eclectic career for which genre definitions have merely been a polite suggestion. From his early days as the driving force behind the impressive Austin-based Bad Livers, a band of pioneering Americana missionaries, through a prolific solo career and the development of his trademark 'folkTronics' project, a startling approach that incorporates digital technology and various effect pedals to stretch the tonal range of the instrument, Barnes has always listened to his proudly offbeat inner voice.

His skills as an instrumentalist and his open embrace and infectious love of music for music’s sake, have brought him to share the stage and record with a wide array of marquee artists that reads like a who’s who among broad musical landscapes, ranging from bluegrass greats Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush, newgrass stars Yonder Mountain String band, to Americana artists Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, and Nickel Creek, to Jam friendly Gov’t Mule, Leftover Salmon, and Keller Williams, to jazz and blues instrumentalists Bill Frisell, Chuck Leavell, and John Popper, to members of the punk and metal Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and Ministry.

Born in Beirut in 1955 (his father worked for the State Department), Nick was raised in upstate New York. He started playing drums at age ten, but abandoned them in favor of his first guitar a year later. As a teen, he played in folk and folk-rock bands. His desire to pursue music as a career in the mid-seventies led him to Colorado, where he met up with the three young men who would join him in forming the contemporary bluegrass band Hot Rize in 1978. For the band, Nick supplied bass, vocals and guitar and was also well known for his exceptional ease and grace as the M.C. and host. He won recognition as a writer as well, earning praise from Rolling Stone Magazine as "an exceptional songwriter."

Hot Rize established an acclaimed international reputation, releasing ten albums and touring worldwide fulltime for over 12 years. The band appeared on countless radio and television programs, including Austin City Limits, The Grand Old Opry and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Hot Rize earned both a Grammy nomination and the International Bluegrass Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award in 1991. Ironically, in the face of this success, the band members collectively decided to pursue individual projects later that year and went into semi-retirement. While on a highly successful State tour in eastern Europe during this time, Nick conceived the idea of a new concept in radio, etown, the popular weekly radio variety show now heard coast-to-coast.

As etown's host, Nick leads a radio program that entices the audience with live performances from today's top musicians, then engages listeners with conversation and information about our communities and our environment. His warm on-air wit, stellar guitar playing and strong vocals are hallmarks of the show.

In addition to etown, Nick remains an active player in the music world, performing at major festivals and playing recording sessions for various artists like Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Kathy Mattea. He also is an accomplished record producer whose most recent project was nominated for a Grammy.

The bass player is from the worst part of Flint, Michigan that you could ever imagine. She can bump it and thump it right down to her camouflage pantyhose. Her name is Ink, we call her Mink for short.

And on the guitar (we think her trainer is around and she's had her medications) is Pitbull. Our Pitbull has more tatoos and chains than any one chick can handle in one chick band. Bigfoot don't get close!

You're gonna think the dance floor is made of syrup. Because that mandolin thing will nail your feet to the floor and then she will sign her autograph with nail pullers right after the show. That's Sugarcube.

And on the banjo, she looks more like Lady Gaga than Benny Galloway. She puts the gumdrop in gumdrop, ladies and gentlemen, Thumbdrop.