Psychograss

Darol Anger

Violinist, fiddler, composer, producer and educator, Darol Anger is at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent. He is well-known as a founding member of five innovative groups: Newgrange, the Anger/Marshall Band, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Montreux Band, and the David Grisman Quintet. Working with some of the world's greatest improvising string musicians — Stephane Grappelli, Mark O'Connor, Bela Fleck, Michael Manring, Mike Marshall, Michael Hedges, Jerry Douglas, et al. — has given Anger a unique perspective on string music, resulting in his inventing and developing innovative string techniques.

In addition to performing all over the world, Darol has co-led annual seminars with the TISQ at Stanford, Oberlin and Amherst colleges, and numerous lecture-demonstrations throughout the year. He also guest instructs at Berklee College of Music and Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Camps, and is String Chair of the International Association of Jazz Educators. He has dozens of recordings including the recent Diary Of A Fiddler on Compass Records. He has authored seven books dealing with techniques and materials on every aspect of vernacular string playing.

Mike Marshall

is now one of the top 3 mandolin players in the world, and an in-demand, influential guitarist. He also collaborates regularly with Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Brazilian mandolin genius Hamilton DeHolanda, as well with his long-time associate Anger with whom he plays in The Duo. He has produced successful recordings for Laurie Lewis, Alison Brown, Jennifer Berezan, Tony Furtado, and others.

Mike's all around string virtuosity showed early: at age 18 he had won the Florida state fiddle and mandolin championships and taught over 40 students a week in his own studio. Hired to join the David Grisman Quintet after a two hour jam session, Mike supplied brilliant contributions on mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and mandocello for five years and was featured on tours and recordings with Grisman, Stephane Grappelli, Mark O'Connor, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Darol Anger.

After leaving the DGQ, Mike developed his partnership with Darol Anger which led to several Duo and solo recordings on the Rounder and Windham Hill labels, highlighted by the group Montreux with pianist Barbara Higbie and bassist Michael Manring, which toured extensively through the U.S., Europe, and Japan and helped legitimize the nascent New Acoustic/World Music movement. Mike recently spearheaded a comprehensive project of interpreting and recording much of the Brazilian Choro repertoire with his group Choro Famoso, and now is the A&R head of the record label Adventure Music, which distributes his recordings and much great Brazilian music previously unavailable in the U.S .

Todd Phillips

is a founding member of the David Grisman Quintet, Tony Rice's The Bluegrass Album Band, the Montreux Band, and Psychograss. He has participated in many of the most crucial new acoustic music recordings as mandolinist or bassist and also, as bassist, in many of the best bluegrass projects of the 70's 80's, and 90's, appearing in over fifty recordings ranging from bluegrass through new acoustic music to jazz. He has made a career as a producer of his own and other albums, such as his In The Pines , the jazz-inflected Time Frame and an all-star tribute to Bill Monroe, True Life Blues, for which he won a Grammy Award. He currently is producing and playing with the Grier/Flynner/Phillips project

David Grier

is the latest in the line of bluegrass guitar royalty emanating from Doc Watson through Clarence White and Tony Rice. Considered by most bluegrass aficionados to be the greatest flatpicker alive, he emerged into the Nashville scene at an early age, releasing his first solo album (Freewheeling) at 27, to rave reviews from the bluegrass establishment. He has subsequently appeared on scores of important bluegrass albums, worked with nearly every major living bluegrass artist, and further redefined the art of the flatpicked guitar while winning awards such as the National flatpicking Guitar Championship at Winfield and the IBMA Guitar Player Of The Year two years in a row. He has 3 more solo recordings on Rounder Records and 3 on his own label, including his latest release, I've Got The House to Myself, "one of the most brilliant solo guitar recordings ever made" (Darol Anger).

Tony Trischka

is one of the greatest five string banjo players of all time, successfully incorporating all styles from minstrelsy and Scruggs through chromatic and melodic to the most modern styles of playing, and pioneering new acoustic music. With over 25 important recordings over a thirty year period, and guesting on many bluegrass and non-bluegrass recordings, broadway shows, and pop albums, Tony's fiery, questing, and reactive style has brought modern 5-string banjo to audiences all over the world. He has published many instruction books on banjo. His popular and well-received recent recording, World Turning, covers much of the history of the banjo, from Africa up to contemporary rock, with appearances by David Grisman, Allison Krauss, William Burroughs and members of R.E.M.