Free Seedlings
Uncommon Kinship
© 2007 Bennett Konesni; David Lewis
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Acoustic, bluegrass, old-time, singer-songwriter
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This new acoustic band energizes crowds with a buoyant mix of bluegrass, old-time and original songs. As inspiration, they list mountain music and farmer's work chants right alongside bluegrass of all stripes and the genius of Hartford, Dylan, and Lennon.
The Free Seedlings bring a wide range of experiences to the stage, creating a sound that is both rooted in tradition and open to innovation.
Mandolinist Jeff Lewis was born in Islesboro, Maine. He asked his father to show him a few guitar chords when he was 10, and soon the father/son duo was playing at bluegrass festivals and other venues across Maine. Jeff is an accomplished musician who is a freshman at Gould Academy in Maine, where he plays guitar and trumpet in the school band and is a tenor in chamber singers.
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Bennett Konesni was raised by parents that placed high value on the old-time fiddle and banjo music. Active in music as a youngster, Bennett jumped into flatpick guitar during high school. During four years at Middlebury College, he fronted the Route 7 Ramblers, who toured the Northeast as the musical foundation of highly acclaimed Circus Smirkus. After finishing college, Bennett collected farmer's work songs in rural Africa, Asia and Europe during a post-graduate year of field research as a T.J. Watson Fellow. The singers and workers he met inspired him to write the songs that form the core of Free Seedlings' material.
Also born in North Carolina (Greensboro), David Lewis started playing guitar as a teenager, went to music school for a while, then played French horn in a US Navy Band. He enjoyed several years playing pedal steel and bass in rock, country, and jazz bands before coming home to acoustic music in the early ‘90s. David's house has been taken over by the band as their studio and global headquarters, which is just fine with him.