The summer tsunami of bluegrass in central
Montana continues this weekend with an up-and-coming Bozeman group
appearing at Izaak's in Craig. The Bridger Creek Boys perform on the
club's deck at 7 tonight. Admission is $5.
The band features Matt
Broughton on fiddle and vocals, Jim Dungan on acoustic guitar and
vocals, Phil Jolly on mandolin, Lynwood Alan Johnston on upright bass
and vocals and Jon Meek on banjo and dobro.
Their repertoire
stretches from deep in the past to current trends. Part of their
playlist is devoted to traditional instrumental music from more than a
century ago in songs such as "Blackberry Blossom," "Billy in the Low
Ground," "The Red Haired Boy" and "Old Joe Clark." Another segment
features bluegrass standards from the 1930s and '40s in songs such as
"Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms," "Shady Grove" and "Jerusalem Ridge."
Yet
another area of the group's work focuses on bluegrass interpretations
of material from more contemporary artists such as the Grateful Dead,
Little Feat, Old Crow Medicine Show and The Band. Last but by no means
least, the Bridger Creek Boys write their own brand of original music.
"It
doesn't really fit into a genre," Broughton explains. "We don't want
our original stuff to come off canned or a knockoff of somebody else's
style. We've got our own flavor of Montana music."
The Bridger
Creek Boys started from humble beginnings in 2003 as the Sticky Fingers
Bluegrass Band, a project band Broughton helped launch. That came to a
screeching halt when Broughton broke his back in a snowboarding mishap.
After three months of recovery, he joined forces with some new players
he met at a jam session and formed the current band in the summer of
2005.
The Bridger Creek Boys have made steady strides since.
Last
year they recorded a live album, "One Night, One Mic," at the Emerson
Cultural Center in Bozeman, and they're nearing completion of their
first studio effort, featuring mostly original material. In June, the
band performed for the first time at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival
in the "New Band" contest. They made the cut for the 12 finalists
roster but didn't advance further.
"We met incredible people,"
Broughton recalls. "The excitement about bluegrass and acoustic music
is so different than what you see in the general population. It was
very invigorating to see that much interest in bluegrass."
Earlier
this week, the Bridger Creek Boys hit the studio for the Montana PBS
series, "11th & Grant with Eric Funk." The band is one of five
musical acts featured during one-hour segments that include studio
performances and interviews for the Emmy Award-winning show, now in its
third season.
"This is a very big deal for us," Broughton beamed.
"This is really gonna help us get our name out there."
The
members' passion for bluegrass also extends into community involvement.
Broughton, Dungan and Meek give private music instruction, and for the
second year in a row, they'll conduct the Bozeman Bluegrass Camp at the
end of July. The eight-day camp is held for kids and young adults ages
8 to 18. The trio hopes to attract up to a dozen youngsters. Brighton
also will serve as director for the debut Bozeman Bluegrass Festival on
July 29. The event showcases five Montana string bands, including
Bridger Creek, at the Emerson Cultural Center.