Two Standing Ovations

The crowd didn’t hesitate: as soon as the last notes rang out, they were on their feet with thunderous applause. What an amazing concert that was!

We’ve been to several of concert this season:

        Mark Chestnut

        Tim McGraw

        Pam Tillis

        The Duhks

        Lunasa

        Julian Lange & Chris Eldridge

But I have to say, the Steep Canyon Rangers were by far the best! If you are at all a fan of bluegrass, I can highly recommend that you check them out.

They consist of 6 players, all of whom are superb musicians. Charles R. Humphrey III played upright bass. Graham Sharp not only plays the banjo but has also written over thirty of their songs. Michael Ashworth played what they called a Cajon Percussion Box. Mike Guggino was smokin’ hot on the mandolin. Woody Plat was the lead vocalist (although most all of them sang) and also played guitar. But Nicky Sanders completely stole the show on his violin. Good lord, was he ever good!

As their website says, “These days, it’s hard to talk about the Steep Canyon Rangers without mentioning Steve Martin. After meeting at a party and clicking immediately, Martin invited the band to tour and record with him. 2011’s collaboration Rare Bird Alert was nominated for a Grammy, and later that year, they won IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award.”

In fact, some of you may have been lucky enough to see them all (Steve Martin included) play a few years back right here in our very own Performing Arts Center in downtown Anchorage!

Sadly, I missed that.