How do you capture the story of a band?
Is it the pile of torn ticket stubs after a show…
Or the smudged ink of a set list lying on the stage floor…
Is it the muffled conversations and wild eyebrow exchanges from one bandmate to another in between songs…
Or the cheers and roars from the crowd calling for more…
There’s a quick capo change…
The hand-slapping on a tilted cajon…
It’s the bowing staccato to get a jig going…
The surprise ukulele tune…
Twangy snare beat of a banjo…
Smooth, soothing mandolin…
Rolling, bouncing bass pushing the rhythm…
Melodious, fearless voices making moonlight out of words…
Logic can’t quite explain how or why paths cross; logic is for apparatuses and systems. Making music is mostly about pathos and not for the faint of heart; stories will be told and tears will be shed. From the Isle of Skye, Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and India, five souls traveled far and wide looking for something. A sound, perhaps. A feeling. Euphonic stage sweat. Unwritten songs and missing strings. Friendship, harmony, love. What they found was a home in each other and a shared musical vision. What they’ve become is Whiskey Bear.
Since their first studio album release Hill Shack Arson in 2017, a feel-good bluegrass jam, Whiskey Bear has written and recorded over 40 songs. In 2021, amidst the global pandemic, Whiskey Bear stretched their range and style with Terra Imperfectum: Worlds Away but Still in Tune, a 16-song tour de force Americana album. Today, Whiskey Bear strives to hit that next chord, a new verse, the thrill of the next song as they move along together on their journey.
Emma bowing her fiddle to the swing of her highland roots, Tarini on percussion and the meanest rendition of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” that Whitney would surely cheer to, Carl on bass—on production, on everything in between, Nicole on rhythm guitar and her sangin’ ‘bout folks and love and heartbeats, and Michael, lyricist on a mission to save the world. This is Whiskey Bear.
Join the journey as they continue to capture their story!
Bradford C. Philen | author of When the Color Started and Autumn Falls -
