Short Round Stringband

A BAND DECADES IN THE MAKING

Two old time bands meet at a bar... not just any bar, but the legendary Grand Emporium (RIP) in Kansas City, Missouri. In the early 2000s, Ryan Spearman’s Band, High on the Hog, on tour from Colorado, played the Rural Grit Happy Hour and Betse Ellis just happened to be there with her band, The Wilders. The legendary jam session in the alley next to the bar after the show cemented a lifelong friendship. High on the Hog and the Wilders may be history now, but there’s new history in the making…



...And it sure was worth the wait. Ryan and Betse have finally come together musically, bringing along Ryan's duo partner, Kelly Wells (The Aching Hearts from St. Louis) and Betse’s duo partner Clarke Wyatt (Betse & Clarke from Kansas City). All night jam sessions, love of traditional music, and shared musical sensibilities turned into a special main-stage show at the 2017 John Hartford Memorial Festival, where the two duos performed together for the first time, highlighting the magical chemistry of those former bands in a new setting with two musical couples.

One set just wasn’t enough. Now these four are creating more music together and planning more adventures as the newly-formed Short Round Stringband. With deep connections to old-time, country and Ozark tunes and songs, Short Round Stringband takes you on a moving journey through the sounds and stories of the American experience. Their hard driving fiddle tunes will get you out of your seat. Their vocal duets will bring a tear to your eye, and their original songs and inventive new compositions showcase a passion for the depth of tradition and a look to new creative paths.

Members of the Short Round Stringband have collectively honed their craft and engage in multiple aspects of the folk music community. How many folk bands can boast an electroacoustic jazz composer trained in Paris, an executive director of a community radio station, 2 podcast producers, 2 radio DJs, 2 engineer/producers, 2 published ensemble composers, an online banjo lesson website, a multiple fiddle contest winner, 2 classically-trained instrumentalists, 4 folk music educators, 2 fiddlers, 2 banjo players, 3 mandolin players, 3 guitar players (and one tenor guitar player), 2 cellists, a violist, a harpist, and 4 inventive cooks?

Band members have graced such stages and festivals as Celtic Connections (Glasgow, Scotland), High Sierra, The Shetland Folk Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Northwest String Summit, Wintergrass, John Hartford Memorial Festival, Fayetteville Roots Festival, Grey Fox Festival, Wakarusa, Austin City Limits Festival, Hamawe Roots Festival (Belgium), Walnut Valley Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, The Sheldon Concert Hall (St Louis, MO), The Fox Theatre (Boulder, CO), and Carnegie Hall (Dunfermline, Scotland).

More at http://www.shortroundstringband.com