By: Katie Murray
MAY 9th, 2018
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
With Dyer Switch Band At Nick-a-Nee’s
Welcome to bluegrass month! To kick it off, we want to share with you some information on this week’s featured “Bluegrass Throedown” act over at Nick-a-Nee’s.
As lovers of all things acoustic, we at Your Heaven Audio are dedicating the month of May to bluegrass. We’ve chosen the genre as our theme this month because it originated in the south, and we’re super excited to be attending Summer NAMM this year in Nashville. To prepare, we’re on the lookout for some quality live bluegrass anywhere we can find it!
Bill Munroe, often referred to as “The Father of Bluegrass”
Photo by Thomas S. England via Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Bluegrass is an all American form of music, and its creation is credited to Bill Monroe (often known as “The Father of Bluegrass”) and his band The Blue Grass Boys. Traditional bluegrass bands generally involve banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and stand-up bass. Since our CloseUp System is ideal for amplifying, and isolating the natural sounds of acoustic instruments, we’re really interested in the bluegrass genre. Conveniently, one of our favorite spots here in Providence hosts what they call Bluegrass Throedown every Wednesday night. We’re talking about Nick-a-Nee’s, where the music is great, and there’s never a cover. Nick-a-Nee’s is also dog-friendly, so feel free to bring your pooch along for the fun!
Nick-a-Nee’s features both local, and touring artists for their weekly bluegrass night, and this week’s act has been playing live around the Northeast, Midwest, and the South since 1992. They call themselves Dyer Switch Band, and the group seriously exemplifies why we’re so excited about bluegrass. Not only are they a lively bunch bursting with energy, but we love their skillful pairing of acoustics, and embellished vocals.
The band features Nashville recording artist Bob Bates, Bruce Barker (who once played with a band who opened for Joan Jett!), JoAnn Sifo (who composed a song which topped European music charts), and Chris Schultz (formerly the lead banjo player for Flood Road). Dyer Switch Band has performed at festivals across the country including The Central Indiana Festival at Bean Blossom, the Tri-State Bluegrass Festival in Kendallville, Indiana, and the Stringbean Festival in Kentucky. They’ve also played at plenty of fairs, renowned coffee houses, and performed live on a number of radio shows. The group even had the opportunity to open up for Ralph Stanley.
Want a sneak preview to get you excited for Wednesday night? Check out the video below to see the energetic crew sing Sweet Blue Eye Darlin’ at their CD release concert two years back.
If you’re as excited about bluegrass as we are, and as eager to catch this bunch in action, come out next Wednesday night to Nick-a-Nee’s from 8:30 to 11:30. We’ll see you there!