Release: Todalo Shakers Band in Los Olivos 10/12/19`

From: Peter Feldmann
BlueGrass West!
Post Office Box 614
Los Olivos, California 93441
(805) 688 9894
e-mail: peter@bluegrasswest.com
website: www.bluegrasswest.com

BlueGrass West! is proud to present The Todalo Shakers, at the
Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall
2374 Alamado Pintado Avenue
Los Olivos CA. 93441

Eric and Suzy Thompson, Matt Weiner, W.B. Reid, and Franny Leopold (Click on photo for hi-res. pic)

Hot old time, ragtime and blues from Northern California!

Led by Eric and Suzy Thompson, the Todalo Shakers also include West Coast notables Matt Welner - bass, Frannie Leopold - guitar, and WB Reid - six-string banjo and fiddle. Drawing their inspiration for a variety of traditional folk and blues sources, this band is not to be missed!

Saturday, October 12th
8:00 - 10:00 PM
Doors open at 7:30 PM. All ages welcome.
Advance tickets @ $15.00 each will go on sale September 18th
at The Book Loft, 1680 Mission Drive in Solvang and on-line at:
https://bluegrasswest.com/tickets.htm

What do five veteran performers of blues, jug band, jazz and old time music do for fun? Why, form a band and wail on their favorite 1920s party music! The Todalo Shakers, from Seattle, Mendocino and Berkeley, have been playing together sporadically for over 20 years, and are celebrating their 2019 release, Rock Away My Blues. Past performances include Live Oak Festival, Santa Fe Bluegrass Festival, Lark In the Morning, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Freight & Salvage, and Portland Old Time Gathering.

The Todalo Shakers specialize in vintage jug band party blues, rags and stomps which sound like they are lifted right out of 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee. Complex and soulful vocal arrangements create rich and funky harmonies, and a great feeling of camaraderie; the exuberance and fondness that the musicians feel for their material and for each other is unmistakable. Mix in hot ragtime tunes on fiddle and mandolin plus virtuoso bass slap solos, and the party really gets going!

Suzy Thompson has long been known for her bluesy fiddling and powerful vocals; she is the fiddler of choice for Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur; Del Rey, and has also worked with Maria Muldaur, Dave Alvin and Peter Rowan. Eric Thompson (playing mostly mandolin in the Todalo Shakers) began exploring the country blues in the 1960s with Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (with Jerry Garcia) and more recently in his work with such artists as David Nelson, David Grisman and Jody Stecher. The Thompsons are based in Berkeley, California. Guitarist/vocalist Frannie Leopold (Mendocino) has toured and recorded the Delta Sisters and the Balkan Kafe Orchestra, and is a perennial favorite instructor at many West Coast music camps including Lark in the Morning and California Coast Music Camp. Bruce "WB" Reid (Seattle) sings and plays a rare vintage 6-string banjo-guitar (affectionately known as "the enforcer") with the Todalo Shakers. WB spent part of his twenties hanging out in San Diego with bluesman Sam Chatmon, of the legendary string band the Mississippi Sheiks. He has toured and recorded with the Tallboys (Seattle's hottest oldtime string band), with the Carolina Jug Stompers and with his wife, Bonnie Zahnow. Upright bassist Matt Weiner (Seattle) boasts a distinguished resume including stints with the Asylum Street Spankers, Hot Club of Cowtown, Wayne Horvitz, Danny Barnes and Becky Kilgore. His slap bass solos are always a highlight of a Todalo Shakers performance!

Peter Feldmann

Post Office Box 614 * Los Olivos CA 93441 * USA
+1 805 688-9894 * Cell Phone: 805 350-3918
www.BlueGrassWest.com