Taking their inspiration and most of their repertoire from the early jug and string bands and blues singers who played up and down Beale Street in Memphis in the 1920s and '30s, the Todalo Shakers provide an irresistible blend of harmony, swing and stomp, whether singing songs like "Don't Be No Fool" and "Baby How Can It Be", or vamping through instrumentals like "East Texas Drag."
If you enjoyed "Geoff Muldaur & the Texas Sheiks", you'll be sure to like this new release from the Todalo Shakers — fiddler Suzy Thompson is a member of both groups. Everyone pitches in on vocals; WB Reid plays the banjo-guitar (affectionately dubbed “The Enforcer”) and fiddle, Frannie Leopold plays guitar, Eric Thompson mashes down on mandolin, guitar and resonator guitar, Suzy Thompson wails on fiddle, and Matt Weiner bows the bass in a very funky manner.
"Acoustic guitars, mandolins, fiddles, bowed bass, and banjo plink, plunk, careen and moan while everybody pitches in vocals. String band virtuosos playing vintage music just for fun? What a concept. What a blast."
-Derk Richardson, The Guardian
"The Todalo Shakers make a joyful and infectious noise… an irresistible blend of harmony, swing and stomp."
-Mike Regenstreif, SingOut! Magazine
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