Acoustic quintet, Trampled by Turtles bring their rock inspired playing and mesmerizing harmonies to Southgate House Wednesday March 24th.
Trampled by Turtles plays Southgate House on Wednesday
Hailing from Duluth, Mn and formed in 2003, Trampled by Turtles are making a name for themselves throughout the country. When you first hear or see the band, you can’t help but want to describe them as a type of new-grass/bluegrass outfit. Once you dive deeper into the repertoire and live presentation this quintet delivers, you quickly realize these five musicians have taken their initial rock band mentality, and have brilliantly transformed it into a true unique musical orchestration. They possess a style, when trying to classify, is a lesson in futility. A unique style that truly breaks the barrier of what music lovers tend to expect out of bands of this nature.
Dave Simonett and Eric Berry began to play around Duluth as an acoustic duo. Dave being the singer/songwriter/guitarist, and Erik playing the mandolin, the two were enjoying playing around town when they were introduced to a banjo player. Dave Carroll joined the band, and shortly thereafter the trio decided they were interested in adding a bass element to what they were creating. Getting together and playing for fun, Tim Saxhaug brought the bass to the group, and the four enjoyed playing impromptu gatherings and jam sessions around town with no intention of future plans. After the realization that some of their other bands were falling apart, the quartet decided to make Trampled by Turtles a full-time joint. Trampled by Turtles shows can be described as an acoustic onslaught of rock inspired playing, inter-twined with mesmerizing vocal harmonies.
The band has released a total of 4 studio albums and one live album. They are set to release their 5th studio album, Palomino on April 13, 2o1o. Here is a brief description of the upcoming album. You can pre-order the album by following this link.
Palomino set to be released on April 13, 2010
With four self-released albums to their credit and a word-of-mouth reputation that draws legions of diehard fans to their must-see-to-believe live shows, northern roots music hybrid Trampled by Turtles are set to release Palomino, their first album through Thirty Tigers/RED, on April 13th, 2010. With a sound that’s a bracing hybrid of classic American songwriting, bluegrass and folk, this is forceful acoustic music from the land of ice and snow – of dark winters, isolation and numbing cold – delivered at breakneck pace with the fervor of religion.
A brief snippet of the discography bio taken from their website….
Beyond their raucous, genre-bending live shows, TBT are dedicated to songcraft and have released four albums. They recorded their 2004 debut, Songs from a Ghost Town, in an old Catholic church in Duluth. 2005’s Blue Sky and the Devil was also recorded in Duluth, and in 2006 they dropped their first live album, Live at Luce. Come 2007 TBT had laid a solid foundation, now they wanted to build on it. In order to do so they brought in highly respected local producer/musician Rick Mattson. Mattson implemented drums, electric guitars and helped the band learn to use the studio. The result was Trouble, their most impressive album to date. The effort not only garnered the band more attention than ever, they also gained a new member with Ryan Young officially joining the group.
All of this brings us to Duluth. Self-released in 2008 the album shot up to number eight on the Billboard Bluegrass Heatseakers Chart. Again produced by Mattson, the majority of the tracks were laid down in Sparta, MN, the abandoned mining town Mattson calls home. Combining TBT’s live energy with their growing facility in the studio and Simonett’s inspired songwriting (think strains of Townes Van Zandt, Dylan, Wilco and you’re on the right path), Duluth is a high watermark for the band and has proven capable of bridging gaps between fanbases.
Trampled by Turtles pay a visit to the Cincinnati area at Newport’s Southgate House on Wednesday March 25th. Trampled by Turtles will play the Southgate House ballroom with supporting opening act Whiskey Bent Valley Boys. This is an 18+ show with doors opening at 8pm and show at 9pm. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 the day of the show. Tickets can be bought on the Southgate House website, Ticketweb or the Trampled by Turtles website. The Noble Visions will be in attendance and will provide our readers a full post-show/photographic review.
The Noble Visions 