The Highwater String Band was was originally conceived while Luke Mitchell and Rocky Ferman were playing in the jug band Destined for Dogfood. They wanted to stretch out into more of the bluegrass and old time music that the jug band wasn't providing. They asked the bass player from Destined for Dogfood, Mike Moellman, to join them on bass. Starting out as a three piece they knew right away that they needed another melody instrument. Missing the fiddle that they had become accustomed to in the jug band Luke and Rock knew what they were looking for. Thats when they met Susan Gibson, a truly amazing fiddle player. It only took one rehearsal for Luke, Rock, and Mike to realize how lucky they were to have met Susan. A great fiddle player yes, but also a great guitar, mandolin, and banjo player. To top it all off they found out that she knows an estimated 3 trillion old time fiddle tunes. Six months into the all new Highwater String Band Mike Moellman announced that he was leaving to pursue his orchestra and jazz ambitions. Mike might be one of the worlds greatest upright players, and Luke, Rock, and Susan still to this day miss his blazing hot bass solos. What to do with no bass player was the next obstacle the HWSB needed to get over. The best option was to all learn the bass, and take turns playing all the instruments. So, they took a few months off to rearrange all their songs, and decide who was playing guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, autoharp, or dulicimer on each. Shows started getting booked, and the HWSB was back on the road as a three piece again.
One fateful night with nothing else to do Luke went to a local country jam to get some pickin' in. Thats where Luke met Chris Truby, a Large and In Charge banjo and dobro playing machine. Luke went right over to him, pulled out his mandolin, and told him to pick something. It was like they had been playing together for years. Knowing that Rock was hanging out at the bluegrass house Luke called him up and told him to "tune the guitar, we've got a new banjo picker!" Luke and Chris left the jam a short time later, and went for an all night pick with Rock. The next day Susan met Chris, and everyone knew he should join the band. Having a show that night they asked Chris to run sound for them, and also bring his banjo. Little did he know that he would be playing that entire second half of the show with them. For not knowing any of the songs Chris did great. The last hurdle was to teach him upright, and they were set. So, now back as a four piece, the HWSB hit it had for quite a long time untill Nov. 2006. Rocky was offered a job in Denver Colorado that he couldn't pass up. It was a hard decision for him to make knowing that Luke and himself had been playing together since high school, but life is full of crazy turns. Luke, Susan, and Chris knew they had to keep on going with the band, so they asked one of the best guitar and mandolin players in Kansas City, Doug Rippee, to fill in until they could find a new guitar player. The HWSB is a four piece string band, playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, autoharp, mountain dulcimer, dobro, and ukulele. You can catch us in the KC metro area and surounding towns and states. As always we will be in the Pecan Grove the third weekend of September at the Walnut Valley Festival. |
