Two new bluegrass bands from P.E.I. set to perform
A P.E.I. bluegrass fundraising concert will be held March 3, 2 p.m., in the Carriage House at Beaconsfield on West Street, Charlottetown.
The concert will feature two new Island bluegrass bands, Bad Hoss and Whitecap Drive.
Members of Bad Hoss are Blake Crockett, Denise Macleod, Sarah Cummings and Robin Ettles. Their sound combines folk, country and bluegrass elements.
Crockett plays guitar and sings. He has played previously with Old Stone Station and Janet Mcgarry and Wildwood. Macleod, who plays fiddle and sings, has been a member of Bluefield Grass, Bluegrass Revival and Janet Mcgarry and Wildwood. Cummings plays banjo and has played with Rising Tide and Bluefield Grass. Ettles is an experienced touring and freelance musician.
Four seasoned Island musicians have recently formed Whitecap Drive, a band specializing in country, bluegrass and oldtime music. The band members are Troy Mcarthur, Kim Tuplin, Harold Noye and Marnie Noye.
Mcarthur is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who is known to Island audiences from Rattlesnakin' Daddies, Saddle River String Band and the West End Blues Band. Saddle River String Band won P.E.I. Music Awards and an ECMA bluegrass album of the year award in 2008. He’ll be playing banjo with the group.
Tuplin, who plays guitar, is known to audiences as a singer who shared the stage with popular Island entertainer, the late Roy Maccaull. This duo released four recordings with original material by each of them.
Harold Noye sings lead and plays mandolin and guitar, while his wife, Marnie, plays the upright bass. They have been performing for over 30 years with A Touch of Grass, Jericho Road, Dusty Roads and Dunromin.
During those years, their bands released seven recordings with Harold's solo album, Dusty Roads, being nominated for country recording of the year by the PEI Music Association.
As members of Jericho Road, Harold and Marnie received a 1998 ECMA nomination for bluegrass artist of the year. In 2002 and 2004, they received the Music P.E.I. Award for gospel artist of the year.