The Big Possum String Band is coming to SongSpace Gallery Wednesday November 14, at 7:30 pm!
One of Appalachia’s finest old-time stringbands featuring Henry Barnes, Tessa Dillon, Seth Swingle and Evan Collins!
What began as friends playing music together in the mountains of West Virginia has quickly developed into one of Appalachia’s hottest Old-Time Stringbands. Officially forming in the Winter of 2017, Big Possum Stringband was first comprised of Tessa Dillon, Henry Barnes and Evan Collins, with the addition of Seth Swingle in early Summer 2018. With all members being well-known award-winning individual musicians, the music that Big Possum makes as a group has everyone listening. Firmly rooted in old-time music, The Possum also plays driving, traditional fiddle tunes, early bluegrass and country numbers.
Big Possum won 1st place in the 2018 old-time stringband contest at Clifftop, and Henry and Tessa won first
and third places, respectively, in this year’s Clifftop fiddle contest. The band also took a prize at the Galax fiddlers convention! They’re playing a concert for us in the SongSpace Gallery, but we won’t mind if you push aside a few chairs and start dancing!
The guitar player for Big Possum, multi-instrumentalist Evan Collins, is from Iron River, Michigan. Now living in Newark, Ohio, Evan is a luthier making fiddles and repairing instruments. In addition to playing guitar, Evan is also a force to be reckoned with in the banjo world. Drawing inspiration in everything from Roscoe Holcomb, Lee Sexton and John Salyer to Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, Evan is the glue keeping Big Possum’s sound solid and tight.
Newest Possum Seth Swingle plays a driving banjo for the group. Seth has been a finalist in the in the renowned Appalachian Stringband Music Festival (aka Clifftop) for the past four years, and is a 2-time Virginia State Banjo Champion. He plays a variety of archaic regional banjo styles (clawhammer, index- and thumb-lead 2-finger, up-picking and 3-finger) on everything from mandoline-banjo to 6-string banjo, and every banjo in between! He has also spent several years in West Africa studying the kora, a 21-string harp. As one of the few Westerners to have learned the kora in a years-long apprenticeship, Seth is uniquely situated as an ambassador between musical cultures.
Twin fiddling for the Big Possum Stringband is Henry Barnes and Tessa Dillon. Henry, from Washington Courthouse, Ohio, was actually first pushed towards being a country musician. He fell in love with old-time music after meeting prominent West Virginia fiddler Bobby Taylor. He has been fiddling for over 20 years and has won contests in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, including Clifftop, the West Virginia State Folk Festival, and the Henry Reed Memorial Contest. He has also placed 2nd in the Traditional Division at the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship, and placed in the top 5 at the Galax Fiddlers convention.
Hailing from an area with a strong tradition in fiddling is Tessa Dillon, from Saint Albans, WV. She’s been playing music since she was 5 years old. Her driving style has helped her win 1st place at the Vandalia Gathering, Ed Haley Memorial Contest, Surry County Fiddlers Convention, and Elmer Rich Memorial contest, as well as placing 3rd at the Galax Fiddlers Convention. She just released her first solo album with Kim Johnson and Jesse Milnes titled It’s Hard to Love which is available on Bandcamp. She is happy to be keeping the West Virginia fiddling tradition alive and strong.
Free-will cash donation to the artists. $15 suggested. Bring a snack or dessert to pass, if you like!
Wednesday November 14. Doors 7:00pm, Show 7:30pm, in the Undercroft Gallery at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, Shadyside, 605 Morewood Avenue, Pgh., 15213. All ages; wheelchair accessible. For more information, 412.621.8008 or uusongspace@gmail.com.