Casey Driessen is a mind-blowing force of nature—or force of musical passion, energy, and creativity.  The setup is simple: one man, one fiddle, one pedal board used to record and play back looping layers of sound.  Most of the sound comes from the fiddle—melody, harmony, rhythm, percussion.  He keeps adding layers, accompanying himself, so that by the end of a song, it may sound like the playing of a dozen brilliant musicians.  Born in Owatonna, Minnesota and schooled at the Berklee College of Music, Casey has recorded with Darol Anger, John Mayer, Jerry Douglas, Jamey Haddad, and Blue Merle, and played with Béla Fleck, Steve Earle, and Lee Ann Womack.  His song “Jerusalem Ridge” won a Grammy nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance. There’s more than a touch of magic in the music of Casey Driessen.

JimBo Trout & the Fishpeople, serving Bay Area listeners since 1992, perform a musical gumbo of bluegrass, ragtime, blues, Western swing, Appalachian, rock and roll, New Orleans, and honky-tonk, with a generous helping of secret sauce.  With Jimbo himself on guitar and banjo, Steve Neil on bass, Annie Staninec on fiddle, and David Phillips on steel guitar, and band is known for high energy and high entertainment.  In the words of the East Bay Express, “twang lovers couldn’t ask for much more.”

Visit Casey Driessen's website

Visit the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival's website

Listen to a track from Casey Driessen:

Photo by Sandlin Gaither