Tony Trischka Press Kit

Pick a Kit - Territory | Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular | Glory Shone Around | Skyline | The Banjo Project (film)

Press Photos of Tony Trischka
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Photography by James Porto

Territory
reviews | press ready photos | credits | one sheet | liner notes

With fearless musical curiosity as the guiding force, Tony Trischka's Territory roams widely through the banjo's creative terrain. Twelve all-Trischka solo tracks explore a panorama of tunings, banjo sounds, and traditions. Nine selections partner Tony with fellow banjoists Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger, Bill Evans, Bill Keith, Bruce Molsky, and other guest artists to tap the creative potential of America's signature musical instrument. 62 minutes, 21 tracks, 32-page booklet, extensive notes, photos.

Territory Reviews

New York Times

“Territory” (Smithsonian Folkways/Ryko) is considerably more than a showcase for the virtuoso banjo playing of Tony Trischka, though that may seem like its principal function. The album is a full-bore banjo tutorial — Mr. Trischka’s track-by-track notes include tunings and occasional tips — and a familial jaunt through folk and bluegrass terrain. There are just a few guests, both time-tested (Pete and Mike Seeger, on separate tracks) and up-and-coming (the guitarist and singer Michael Daves, the fiddler Brittany Haas). Mr. Trischka provides a steady through line, drawing clear connections not only to Celtic reels but also West African kora music and Hawaiian slide guitar.

Press Ready Photos for Territory
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Territory album cover

Territory promotional poster

Territory Credits

Territory One Sheet
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Territory Liner Notes
download a PDF of the Territory liner notes

Pick a Kit - Territory | Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular | Glory Shone Around | Skyline | The Banjo Project (film)

Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular
reviews | quotes | press ready photos | credits | Letterman Appearance

To coincide with the release of double banjo album on Rounder Records (January 2007 release date), Tony Trischka will be touring this coming winter with a crack acoustic band. The cd features Tony in duets with Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, Alison Brown, Scott Vestal, Tom Adams, Kenny Ingram and others. Back-up musicians include Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Chris Thile, Tony Rice, Stuart Duncan, and Dudley Connell, to name a few.

Tony Trischka has been recording and touring for the last 35 years. He’s been a key figure in opening the banjo and acoustic music in general to wider influences. In addition to the above named line-up, Tony has shared stage and studio with such folks as David Grisman, John Denver, The Boston Pops, William S. Burroughs, Hazel Dickens, Jorma Kaukonen, Ralph Stanley, and countless others. He’s spent 35 years recording for Rounder Records and has also authored and videoized a treasure trove of instructional materials.
The touring band will bring Noam Pikelny up from Nashville. Noam is also on the cd and has gigged and recorded extensively with Leftover Salmon, John Cowan and Chris Thile. He can burn with a traditional fire, or step out into more progressive areas.

Also on hand will be Michael Daves on vocals and guitar. Michael has toured the US and Europe with Roseanne Cash and is a fixture on the Northeast bluegrass scene. His appearance at Merlefest this past spring was a triumph. With a voice that can blow down a barn door from 50 paces and a blazing, lead guitar, Michael is in line to be one of the all time-acoustic greats.

Skip Ward will lay down the stand-up bass lines that anchor the band. Skip has studied with Jaco Pastorius and tours with Phoebe Snow. He can stretch in any musical direction. The music will be primarily bluegrass oriented with a few side-trips to other acoustic ports.

DBBS Reviews

New York Times

The title of “Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular” (Rounder), the latest effort by Tony Trischka, is almost comically self-descriptive. It’s a bluegrass album, no question, and on it Mr. Trischka matches wits and fingertips with a bushel of fellow banjoists, from the venerable Earl Scruggs to Alison Brown formerly of Union Station to Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin). There are also solid contributions by members of the Johnson Mountain Boys and other kindred spirits, like Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile on mandolin. Virtuosity is the standard, so much so that the rush of 16th notes can level off into a blur. But Mr. Trischka presents his guests with tunes that swerve from harmonic complacency or fretboard cliché. The longest and most incandescent track is “Twilight Kingdom,” which includes Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on dobro and David Grier on guitar. At its center is an exchange between Mr. Trischka and his former student Béla Fleck; that’s where the spectacular comes into play. -- Nate Chinen

All Music Guide

Banjo innovator Tony Trischka's vision has cut a wide swath across the contemporary music scene, touching both time-held and progressive traditions with folk and bluegrass. Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular is less a new thrust in a new direction than an overview allowing Trischka and his talented friends to revisit highlights in their own careers. Overall, the effort veers toward conservative, instrumental music ("Bon Qua Blues") supplemented by the occasional vocal ("Fox on the Run") that most listeners would recognize as bluegrass. On each cut, Trischka is joined by another renowned banjoist within a bluegrass setting (mandolin, bass, guitars). On the opener, "Farewell Blues," he's joined by none other than Earl Scruggs; on "Twilight Kingdom," "Ivory Toad of Catalan," and "Armando's Children," he's paired with Béla Fleck. As one might guess, the earlier selection with Scruggs is a little less adventurous than the ones with Fleck, but since the acoustic instrumentation remains the same, it all flows of a piece. Perhaps the oddest partner on Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular is comic Steve Martin. Those with longer memories, however, will recall Martin's television appearances when the banjo often formed part of his standup act. With lots of talented sparring partners and solid material, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular will especially appeal to Trischka's older, more conservative fans. -- Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Amazon.com

How much banjo can one fan stand? This release should delight those five-string aficionados for whom too much plunk is never enough. Veteran virtuoso Tony Trischka enlists the services of fellow banjoists ranging from seminal inspirations (Earl Scruggs) to pupils and acolytes (Béla Fleck, Alison Brown) to wild cards (comedian Steve Martin) for a series of duets supported by stellar bluegrass musicians such as Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and members of Union Station. Most of the tracks are instrumentals, though Dudley Connelly provides vocals on traditional bluegrass standards such as "Fox on the Run" and "Live and Let Live," with Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile and frequent duo partner Michael Davis teaming for harmonies on "Run Mountain." The musical interplay throughout is predictably superb, but the three cuts pairing Trischka with Fleck suggest that another extended teaming of mentor and prized student would truly be something special. --Don McLeese

DBBS Quotes

"A great CD! Fine picking!"
-Earl Scruggs

"Tony's jovial wit and deep love of the banjo and acoustic music has infected and lifted me many times. Always a trailblazer, Tony plays the banjo like Tony Trischka. And many other people around the world would love to do the same."
-Jerry Douglas

"Wow what a CD. For banjo lovers everywhere a Tony Trischka recording is high on the list of acquisitions. When you check out the list of players who join Tony on this project you realize that it is a must have. Get it right now so you can start enjoying it immediately."
-Jorma Kaukonen

"I've known Tony Trischka for a long time, and I've always admired his inventiveness. Wherever he goes musically, he always keeps it interesting - and when it comes to bluegrass, he's got a right hand that just won't quit!"
-Del McCoury

DBBS Press Ready Photos
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Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular Album Cover

Studio Session - Photo Credit: Gregory Heisler
From l to r: Marty Confurius, Barry Mitterhoff, Jon Sholle, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka

Promo Shots - Photo Credit: Gregory Heisler

DBBS Credits

Pick a Kit - Territory | Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular | Glory Shone Around | Skyline | The Banjo Project (film)

Glory Shone Around
overview | quotes | booking

Glory Shone Around features music from Trischka’s critically acclaimed album of the same name, “a satisfying and thoughtful 16 song collection that one hopes will stay in print for many more Christmases to come,” (The New York Times). The show turns his eclectic banjo stylings and musical ingenuity toward a celebration of the season.

This year, fans of the fingerpicking master have much to cheer about. In addition to showcasing members of Trischka’s long-term progressive bluegrass band Skyline, the shape-note vocal quartet Northampton Harmony will take to the stage to reinvent some of the most familiar music of all time, as well as a few surprises. Joining Trischka will be by guitarist/vocalist Danny Weiss, bassist Larry Cohen, percussionist Joe Cardello and fiddler Kenny Kosek (of Jerry Garcia’s Acoustic Band.). Performing songs from the 1844 hymn book Sacred Harp, the stark, haunting sound of Northampton Harmony is the perfect complement to Trischka’s sound. Northampton Harmony is led by ethnomusicologist Tim Eriksen, who worked closely withT Bone Burnett on the soundtrack for the film Cold Mountain. (Eriksen was consultant, singer and vocal coach for Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and others.)

Fans will be treated to holiday favorites like “Sleigh Ride,” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” Traditional holiday fiddle music will combine with classically influenced carols. Audience members may even find themselves hearing some truly unique material: Woody Guthrie Christmas and Chanukah lyrics set to Trischka’s music, a bluegrass rendering of the nativity, and The Pretenders’ ”2000 Miles.”

quotes

"The music of Glory Shone Around is “always excellent, full of fine surprises and memorable moments”
- The New York Times

"A celebration of Americana, sometimes lively, sometimes stately.”
- Washington Post

booking

Glory Shone Around booking contact

Pick a Kit - Territory | Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular | Glory Shone Around | Skyline | The Banjo Project (film)

Skyline

Skyline was formed in 1980 with the simple concept of having old friends get together to play music. What began as a casual vehicle for gigs turned into a nine year adventure which took the group all over the United States, Japan and Europe. Through such national radio broadcasts as A Prairie Home Companion, Lonesome Pine Special and Mountain Stage, Skyline’s music became familiar to countless fans. In their wake, Skyline left four critically acclaimed albums on Flying Fish Records. In 1998 Rounder Records released a compilation CD, Ticket Back, featuring cuts from the band’s four albums. Two additional tunes were waxed especially for that project. When the group officially disbanded in 1988 they found that breaking up was hard to do…the band reunites several times each year due to popular demand.

Musically, Skyline tramples borders. Though coming, in many ways, from a bluegrass perspective, other elements, such as jazz, rock, classical and the Wizard of Oz manage to creep in. Guitarist/vocalist Danny Weiss comments, “It’s hard to put an accurate label on us. There’s a lot of fusion involved. People will say we play “new acoustic,” “progressive bluegrass,” or “newgrass.” Given the backgrounds of the four Skyliners, their eclecticism is understandable.

Bassist Larry Cohen spent his pre-Skyline years performing jazz, classical and rock and has arranged for orchestras and brass quintets. These days Larry keeps busy producing albums, gigging, and teaching.

Barry Mitterhoff has placed his mandolin at the service of such notables as Hazel Dickens, Pete Rowan and Lynn Morris, He’s currently touring with former Jefferson Airplaner Jorma Kaukonen, and has just joined Hot Tuna. Barry’s Flying Fish album, Silk City, is a musical and critical triumph.

With numerous Rounder Records and books of banjo instruction to his credit, Tony Trischka is currently working on a double banjo album featuring Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Pete Seeger and many other five-string luminaries. The new year will also find Tony commencing work on a solo project for Smithsonian Folkways.

Danny Weiss became one of the first American musicians to introduce acoustic music to Siberia during his Russian routing. His mellifluous voice and glistening guitar have graced countless recording projects. Danny tours throughout the northeast with his musical partner, Mary Olive Smith.

Now, well into the new millennium, Tony Trischka and Skyline continues to blaze trails, creating fresh new sounds while maintaining links to tradition.

Skyline booking contact

Pick a Kit - Territory | Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular | Glory Shone Around | Skyline | The Banjo Project (film)