the Flat Iron String Band
Today's Old Time and Country Band
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The Flat Iron Stringband plays a high-octane mix of traditional American music, carried by fiddle, fretless banjo, guitar and bass. Ranging from traditional Appalachian Old-Time square dance music to 1950's Honky Tonk, with a smattering of original takes on some old standbys, Flat Iron's heart-wrenching country duet vocals and whoop-and-holler dance tunes evoke a sound and emotion not often found on today's indie/folk stage.
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"Hard Times in the Country has a good variety of tunes and songs from different sources. The harmony vocals between Sabra Guzman J.P. Harris are something special; they're strong and confident with elegant lines and nicely crafted harmonies, and the stark backup is just the right contrast to set off the voices. The instrumental tunes are well-played with energy and a danceable beat."
- Brad Leftwich
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THE PLAYERS:
* J.P. Harris: Banjo, Vocals
J.P. Harris (called more often by the nickname "Squash" his momma gave him) started playing early Country and Honky Tonk while traveling the country at 16. His love of Old Time music was inherited through his kin in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, where his family has lived since well before the Civil War. He now resides in Halifax, Vermont, where he builds custom-made fretless banjos, works as a restoration carpenter, and runs a small low-impact forestry operation. When he is not working at home, he can easily be found under a tattered tarp at a fiddler's convention, in a lamp-lit shack on a mountainside, or busking on the streets wherever he may be. His trademark fretless banjo sound was formed by the desire to play as close to the fiddle as possible, whether right on pitch or "between the keys." Check out bigbottomspecial.com for more information on his banjos.
* Nick Stillman: Fiddle
Nick Stillman began to play fiddle and banjo while studying ethnomusicology in college, taking many trips down to North Carolina, West Virginia, and other areas in the south to absorb the traditional old time music of these regions. He soon started to make his living busking and playing gigs across the U.S. and Europe. He picked up tunes and developed his style from playing with old time fiddlers on both sides of the Atlantic. He also enjoys cooking and chess.
* Sabra Guzman: Guitar, Uke, Vocals, Feet
Sabra Guzman remembers beginning her musical journey as a youngster, banging away at the piano, then on to the electric bass while living in Long Beach, California. By the good graces of the gods, she moved up and down the West Coast, familiarizing herself with other port towns such as Portland, Oregon and Oakland, CA. While in the Bay Area, Sabra began venturing into American Roots music when she found herself drawn to the guitar-styles and voices of country musicians such as Lefty Frizzell and Mother Maybelle Carter. Soon, with a guitar in one hand and a banjo uke in the other, she was off to France and Switzerland with the Mercury Dimes, a San Francisco-based Old Time string band, returning to the States to play more with the Dimes, and also to work with the Crooked Jades. Now, on the East Coast, Sabra rests for a moment in Charlottesville, Virginia, continuing to indulge in this roots music as she takes in the vast Appalachian horizons, as she embarks on her late night musical larks to nearby states, and as she begins to tackle the intricacies of moving around this country without as many things as you think you may need.
* Amanda Kowalski: Bass, Feet
Amanda Kowalski is a West Virginian living in Portland, Maine. She has one gray cat, two basses, and three cameras. Amanda spends her time eating ice cream, dancing in the living room, reading magazines on public transportation, playing bass and taking pictures. In 2006, Amanda moved from Nashville, where she worked as a touring bass player, to Portland, Maine where she studied photography at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. These days, she is focusing on maintaining both interests. She shoots for publications, photographs musicians for albums and publicity material, and visually documents moments in the lives of interesting people. Musically, she has spent the past year working with Tony Trischka, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and the Flat Iron Stringband. In the past she has recorded and/or played with Uncle Earl, Adrienne Young, Roland White, Abigail Washburn, April Verch, Bela Fleck, Tyler Grant and others.
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For More Information:
http://www.flatironstringband.com
http://flatironstringband.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52875&id=553173391&l=27f55582ce
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