I saw a wonderful performance

[Interlochen-Mando]

This past Saturday(6/16) my wife and I took my elderly parents to the 30th Annual Spirit of the Woods Folk Festival in Bretheren, Mi. A small gathering in the village park.
We arrived just in time to see Peter Ostroushko(mandolin) and Arkadiy Yushin(guitar) take the stage. I had never heard of either of these musicians before.
Needless to say, we were awed by their performance on a tiny little temporary stage in the trees. Even my folks, who are in no way musically inclined, nor have ever really followed music, were mesmerized.
My dad kept saying,"I can't believe two fellas can play those things so well"!
The sound/music that came out of those "unplugged" acoustic instruments was the richest and most full that I have ever heard.

[Mandojulie]

I totally agree with you. Saw them in Lawrence (Kansas, for those not of the jayhawk inclination) and thought they were terrific. They played for approximately 40 people in a small, packed, room and it was wonderful.

I took a friend who usually rolls his eyes at any mando topic and he told me after that he would go to any small venue like that anytime. He didn't use the word, but I would call it intimate.

Peter O. is a semi regular guest on "The Prairie Home Companion". I haven't heard him on it lately, though.

[Richard Russell]

I could listen to Ostroushko every day, he has the sweetest tone around! I've got a cd of him doing Italian songs and it is wonderful stuff!

[El Greco]

I also saw Peter and Arkadiy in Germantown, MD (Blackrock Center for the Arts) just before the holidays of last year.

Besides great skill and soft as goosedown tone they have a keen sense of humor on stage. They narrate stories from their childhood, anecdotes from Peter's touring with Mr. Keilor and they poke fun at each other all the time. : )

Really good stuff for mando, guitar and generally strings enthusiasts.

[Alex Orr]

Ostroushko and Norman Blake have an excellent duet CD available. As with almost anything that Norman participates in, it's quality music and worth picking up.

[Gotterdamerung]

I can add to the chorus of support for Peter Ostroushko and Arkan. I have seen them before, along with Peter's other duet partners, especially Dean Magraw. Peter's CD with Dean Magraw, titled simply Duo, is a beautiful recording, with Peter on Fiddle and Mandolin, and Dean on guitar.

Peter is a great guy to speak with, very humble and sincere, with an amusing sense of humor. And he plays virtually any style, old time, bluegrass, italian, irish, eastern european, classical, etc. and in any format, solo, duo, quartet, quintet, mandolin quartet--he was even a musician on Dylan's Blood on the Tracks (uncredited).