Genre: Bluegrass

Excited to see Horseshoes & Hand Grenades at Live On King on June 2nd? Don’t want the bluegrass to stop after the show ends? Head on down to the High Noon to keep the party going with The Smokin Bandits!

Buffalo Galaxy

Deep Space, Light Speed, Bluegrass!

Dust from the years of performing has coalesced to form Buffalo Galaxy.

Each member brings with them a tradition of Bluegrass and American music as their launchpad, creating moments of energy and intensity generated by light-speed bluegrass, while exploring the deep-space between emotions.

In their three years as a band, Buffalo Galaxy has played over 200 shows around the greater midwest and Rocky Mountains. They have shared the stage with the Kitchen Dwellers, Dead Horses, and Daniel Donato. The band has brought their signature style to some of the regions finest festivals like Blue Ox, Boats and Bluegrass and many more. Buffalo Galaxy released their debut album “New Escape” during 2020 and their follow up will be out in early 2023.

Buffalo Galaxy is ready to burn bright in the bluegrass universe!

Billy Bronsted and the Loot

Billy Bronsted and the Loot are a Progressive Americana trio from central Wisconsin. Leaning on the crack bass chops of Darian Woller, and Billy’s fervent songwriting. He and percussionist John Kneipp were both born and raised in Tomahawk, WI, where their love for music was definitely thought of as “unique.” Growing up in Tomahawk instilled strong values of hard work and the importance of family, grounding them and shaping the way they walk through their lives. Their sound reflects this peaceful upbringing; there is a characteristic storytelling and writing style that is second nature to them. The duo’s raw and aggressive percussion mixed with Bronsted’s diverse acoustic playing styles pulls the listener back through time. Their albums evoke the milieu of the backwoods, where campfire strumming sets the tone for well-crafted narratives.

In 2008. Billy and John recorded their first series of demos as a duo with friends. Billy found himself working on multiple projects, honing his talents and building his reputation in close collaboration with David Blessent, with whom he founded projects such as Linus and the Lute and One Strong Army. During this period, Bronsted crossed paths with many of his current collaborators.

Wood Belly

Honest, soulful, and bearing a sound all their own, Wood Belly sprouted from the roots of bluegrass to notch a unique home in the broader Americana scene and continues to captivate audiences across the country en route. With an unrelenting dedication to original songwriting, harmony singing, and artful arrangements, the quintet is forging a sound that is based in newgrass and flavored with alt-country, rock, and just enough jam to glue it all together.

Wood Belly established themselves as a staple of the Colorado and national acoustic music scene by winning the 2018 Telluride Bluegrass festival band competition and being nominated for an IBMA award. Bluegrass Today said “Even now, it’s safe to determine that they’re ones to watch…the freshness and vitality they bear elevates their standing and assures their status as instant contenders”. That freshness continues today as the band takes on a new shape. With a restructuring of the rhythm section, Wood Belly has opened up a world of dynamic range and dimension to be explored.

Adding a drummer was a bold move for a band rooted in Bluegrass tradition, but a creative and adaptive
musician like Dylan French was an easy call. The band has always strived to play to the song and give each composition just what it needs, which is why French is a perfect fit. He is well versed in a variety of styles and has quickly made his own imprint on the Wood Belly sound.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brennan Mackey had been on the band’s radar for a long time. Having already carved out a following in Denver and beyond with his own indie rock
band King Cardinal, his writing, singing, and bass playing bring a fresh color palette to Wood Belly’s already distinguished sound.

Wood Belly will be releasing “Cicada”, a collection of singles, throughout 2023. The releases will highlight the bands transition and rebirth, weaving together textures that represent the growth of the group and direction that the band is venturing. One of the longstanding pillars of Wood Belly is creative investment of all members and an unwavering dedication to creating a well-rounded, original sound. This pillar, presented in a new light, remains unbroken.

MATT HECKLER is a solo multi-instrumentalist that barely fits into any ordinary musical category. He tends to keep to the darker side of Appalachian mountain music and early bluegrass but listen long enough and you’ll soon be transported to the mountains of Eastern Europe or a dimly lit bar in Ireland where they honor those who have passed with a gently swaying a cappella ballad.

After touring almost nonstop for years in support of bands like Devil Makes Three, Lost Dog Street Band, Flogging Molly, and others, HECKLER, like the rest of us, got sidelined by the ongoing global pandemic. With the newfound time off, he set to pushing creative boundaries in his home recording studio as far as his mind would allow. Each fiddle, banjo, and guitar track carefully put in place all the while retaining the grit and energy reflected in his live shows. Paired perfectly as the sequel to After The Flood, the Blood, Water, Coal album is a defining release in his career.

Blood, Water, Coal was performed and recorded by MATT HECKLER with upright bass and backing vocals provided by Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band). While recording Blood, Water, Coal, MATT HECKLER released The Magnolia Sessions outdoor live set – the maiden release for the now popular series – which made it to #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts. The Magnolia Sessions was still charting upon the release of Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at #3, leaving HECKLER with two albums running on the Billboard Charts simultaneously.

HECKLER writes, “I started working on this album over a year ago in my home. Ran into a lot of snags and problems inherent in self-recording, but being alone, just a mic and my instruments, was the only way to capture the raw emotions this collection of songs holds for me. Some of these tunes were written over a decade ago, most of them in more recent years. Others took years to write. But now that it’s done, I can confidently say this album is the perfect sequel to After The Flood.”

Possessed by Paul James

After 20 plus years working within the realms of special education & advocacy work, Konrad Wert known as the band Possessed by Paul James, continues the balance with yet another upcoming album while in the classroom. Continuing to raise a family in Texas & working a 50 hr work week within public education, Wert has still been able to release 5 full length albums, two of which topped Bluegrass Billboard charts in 2013 & 2020. Possessed by Paul James’s upcoming 6th album, titled Fighting For Our Own Survival, set to release “sooner than later” highlights life’s passage with such tracks as See You On Sunday; recorded live here with WAF in Laramie, Wyoming & accompanied by Joe Macheret on fiddle.

Lou Shields

Lou Shields continues the tradition of American music with a solo-performance that pulls in styles of days-gone-by. Using his 1931 National Resonator Guitar, 1920s 12-String, National Baritone Tricone or Banjo accompanied by a unique front porch style of foot percussion and harmonica, he uses his voice as an extension of the past. Lou carries a full sound during live performances while sharing stories, thoughts and experiences with the audience. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe.