The trio of Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, and Jordan Tice released their first recording (You Got This) in the spring of 2014. The music draws from the bluegrass, Celtic, Swedish, old-time, and avant string band music that the individual members are known for (Haas played with Crooked Still, Kowert is a Punch Brother, and Tice is a go-to guitarist in the fertile Northeast genre-crossing string band community), but like all the best trios, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. In fact, this is some of the best music any of these musicians has made, and that’s saying a lot. The memorable compositions (two from Kowert, two from Haas, and five from Tice, including the tune in this video) suit their individual styles perfectly and the interplay between the musicians is intuitive, natural, and bracing. The best comparison that comes to mind is the Swedish trio Vasen, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Here’s to at least that many years for this new trio. (haaskowerttice.com)

Claire Lynch Band, “How Many Moons” Claire Lynch and her band perform live backstage at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, California, in 2014. Read More

Garrison, Gordy, Hargreaves, Walsh: “Sports” Watch a video of an original song from “Bluegrass and the Abstract Truth,” with mandolin from Peghead Nation instructor Joe K. Walsh, and illustration by our banjo instructor Danny Barnes. Read More

Andrew Marlin with Eli West, Christian Sedelmyer, Clint Mullican: “Wooden Spoon Over by the Sink” Andrew Marlin and his band plays an original tune from his instrumental album, “Buried in a Cape,” backstage at Terrapin Crossroads. Read More

Hawktail: “Annbjørg” Peghead Nation fiddle instructor Brittany Haas and her progressive acoustic band play an original tune from their new album, “Formations.” Read More

Bruce Molsky with Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno: “Train on the Island”/“Texas Sally Ann” Bruce takes to the porch to play two traditional favorites with old-time/country guitarist and songwriter Vivian Leva and multi-instrumentalist Riley Calcagno. Read More

California Banjo Extravaganza: “The Train That Carried My Girl from Town” Bill Evans, Joe Newberry, and Danny Barnes play a three-banjo version of the popular bluegrass song. Read More

Hawktail: “Antilopen” Peghead Nation fiddle instructor Brittany Haas plays a Swedish fiddle tune with her powerhouse garage band. Read More

Mr. Sun, “A Little Heart’s Ease” Mr. Sun is Peghead Nation mandolin instructor Joe Walsh, Darol Anger, Grant Gordy, and Ethan Jodziewicz. Here they are playing one of Joe's new compositions. Read More

Bill Evans, Dan Crary, and Steve Spurgin: “A Walk in the Irish Rain” Peghead Nation banjo instructor Bill Evans plays backstage at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse with two bluegrass legends. Read More

John Reischman, Scott Nygaard, Sharon Gilchrist, Joe K. Walsh: “Clinch Mountain Backstep” The Peghead Nation Mandolin Camp instructor staff plays the Ralph Stanley classic at the Camp concert. Read More