Curious

[David Miller]

I am playing in a trio right now (sometimes quartet) that consists of guitar / lead singer, mandolin (me) and drums / percussion. (We are looking to add a bass player). We play acoustic rock sorts of things, From SRV to DMB to original. Our drummer plays with a modified drum kit consisting of kick, High Hat, ride / crash, and a Djembe instead of a snare, and bongos instead of tom toms. Not only does this combo lend itself to some interesting sound combinations, but it seems to help in terms of each of us being able to stay out of each other's way sound-wise. One other key is that I am only fighting one guitar, which makes it easy for us to each find our own space....

[jefflester]

I saw the band Blue Merle last week opening for Glen Phillips. They have a full time mandolinist, Beau Stapleton. He alternates between a Schertler'd Bluett F5 and a semi-hollowbody (looks like a solidbody) 5-string electric octave, tuned gdaeb. Beau responded to an email query of mine and said it was made by Steve Reynolds, father of the band's guitarist and singer. The band has mandolin, guitar, drums, upright bass, and fiddle. Not really a rock band, more pop in vein. The band's site is www.bluemerle.com

They came up with the name from Zep's song Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp - "Ain't no companion like a blue-eyed merle."