Tennessee Hob heat up 19th International Bluegrass Music and Dance Festival

CONWY, WALES, UK, July 2007: This weekend, 5-8 July, Ireland’s Tennessee Hob will headline the 19th International Bluegrass Music and Dance Festival in Conwy, North Wales. The boys' off-the-cuff stories, brother-style harmonies and intense playing went down well at last year’s festival, and they were invited back by popular demand. The band will play three shows: Friday, 10.00 p.m.; Saturday, 7.30 p.m.; and Sunday, 3.00 p.m.

Tom Hanway will give a 90-minute banjo workshop on Saturday, 10.30 a.m., focusing on the playing of the bluegrass masters, including Scruggs, Reno, and Stanley, and he and Karl Deeter will be picking in the field all weekend when they’re not playing shows or giving one-on-one lessons.

Karl is a natural-born showman with a crystal-clear Appalachian voice. He plays rock-solid rhythm and inspired lead guitar. In America he performed with guitar wizard David Bromberg and Nashville’s Roni Stoneman (from the popular 'Hee Haw' TV show), of the renowned Stoneman Family. Karl is an agile crosspicker and fingerpicker and has adapted numerous guitar styles, citing Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Clarence White, and Leo Kottke as major influences.

Karl and Tom both sing lead and harmony vocals in the tradition of the classic brother duets, such as the Louvin, Monroe, Stanley and Everly Brothers. Tennessee Hob has exciting original material, breathtaking harmonies and world-class chops. This is good-time singing, picking and grinning in the real country, bluegrass and Appalachian traditions.

Tom is one of the hottest 5-string banjo players around, in both traditional bluegrass and contemporary styles. He has performed with Bill Monroe, Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements, John Herald, and many bluegrass and rock legends. Tom co-designed the worldwide-selling SwallowTail Banjo, manufactured by Stelling in Afton, Virginia, USA. Actor Steve Martin purchased a SwallowTail Deluxe in 2006.

Tom is the author of Mel Bay’s Complete book of Irish & Celtic 5-string banjo (book and CD), and he is currently writing three more books for Mel Bay. Like Earl Scruggs, Tom is also a fingerpicking guitar maestro, particularly on country blues and gospel numbers.

For more on the Festival, see its website or read a review here.