PETER ROWAN BLUEGRASS BAND

"No other artist pushes the limits of bluegrass

while maintaining a respect for the roots like Peter Rowan."

Bjorn Weeks

In September 2010, the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band released their debut album for Nashville's Compass Records- Legacy; the new album, featuring traditional and original compositions, was produced by Compass owner/recording artist Alison Brown and includes Ricky Skaggs, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Del McCoury and received a Grammy nomination in 2010.

Peter Rowan - Guitar, Vocals
GRAMMY-award winner and six-time GRAMMY nominee, Peter Rowan is a bluegrass singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, Peter's stint in Old & In the Way with Jerry Garcia and his subsequent breakout as both a solo performer and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through his continuous stream of original recordings, collaborative projects, and constant touring.

Mike Munford - Banjo
Since Mike Munford began touring with rising bluegrass star Frank Solivan and his band "Dirty Kitchen", listeners around the country are finding out what fans and pickers in the Washington-Baltimore area have known for years. This is one amazing banjo player. Previous to working with D.C. based Solivan, Mike played banjo with the Mark Newton Band and recorded two albums with them. Among the artists Mike has worked with as a freelancer are Tony Rice, Tony Trischka (Mike was one of the few banjo players that Trischka tapped for his "Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular" tours), Dede Wyland , Lynn Morris, Larry Rice, Valerie Smith, and Frank Wakefield. He has backed up Peter Rowan many times since the 1980s, and played on Rowan's Grammy-nominated "Bluegrass Boy" album in 1996.

Paul Knight - Bass, Vocals
Paul Knight has been playing with Peter Rowan in various configurations for over 15 years. His driving acoustic bass has been part of recordings and live performances with a wide range of musicians including Jim Lauderdale, Laurie Lewis, and Crooked Jades, Paul is host to his own music series, Paul Knight & Friends, in his hometown of Pt. Reyes Station, CA. Several projects & bands have emerged from these shows including The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band.

Michael Witcher - Dobro, Vocals
Growing up the youngest of five in a musical and artistic family in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Michael found his voice playing the dobro at the age of fourteen. In less than a year, he was playing with his father Dennis, and brother Gabe in their Bluegrass band, "The Witcher Brothers". Michael has recorded or toured with Dwight Yoakam, Fernando Ortega, Laurie Lewis, Tyler Hilton, John Paul Jones, Sara Watkins, The Gibson Brothers, Dolly Parton, Joan Osborn, Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show), and Chris Jones among others. Known for his rich tone and lyrical phrasing, Michael is also a highly sought after instructor.

www.peter-rowan.com

Peter Rowan:
What They Say…

‘A night with Rowan offers ghostly echoes of Celtic and English folk songs, of sea shanties and blues, of field hollers and south-of-the-border exotica. He pulls it together under a loose bluegrass label: country 'n' western without the corn, if you like.’ It is a voice which spans the gamut of music that became bluegrass. Like all the best artists, Rowan is no purist, just someone searching for the most effective way to express himself.
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

Rowan is one of the greatest and most important of all the bluegrass players. He understands what he calls "the joy" of bluegrass and acoustic music and, with wonderful artlessness, he insists that he is coming to Australia to do nothing more than "be a singer of songs and a player of tunes". His admirers know he will be much, much more than that.
Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald

In terms of hero status, I place Peter Rowan right up there with Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, although whereas these two artists forged a landscape of imagery through poetic words and music over the last four decades, Rowan is the 'voice' that very much belongs to that landscape and which has captivated audiences of Bluegrass music for the past three or four decades.
Allan Wilkinson, Folk and Root

BOOKINGS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
John McAuslan
Across The Borders Touring Agency
Phone: (03) 9387 3376 Fax: (03) 9380 8234
Email: bookbmf@yahoo.com.au OR johnbmf@vicnet.net.au
www.acrosstheborders.com.au | www.brunswickmusicfestival.com.au