|
Northern
Lights, the Northeast's superlative veteran string
band, doesn't qualify as typical traditionalist. But over
a three-decade career, the band has created its own tradition
- a constant exploration of new musical territory without
ever losing its acoustic and vocal bearings. From 1990's "Take
You to the Sky," to 2005's "New Moon" (Fifty-Fifty
Music), the band has fused an eclectic mix of traditional
roots music, rock, country, soul and gospel with the high,
lonesome vocal sound and instruments of bluegrass.
The group, now a quartet, has performed at festivals and concert
halls from coast to coast and abroad, including the Newport
Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, American Folklife
Center, Barns at Wolf Trap, Strawberry Music Festival, Walnut
Valley Festival, Smithsonian Institute, Festival Sur la Route
de Tullins (France), Bumbershoot Festival and the Winnipeg
Folk Festival.
They have recorded 10 albums, including “Three August
Nights”, a live CD with the late legendary Nashville
fiddler Vassar Clements, who often performed with them, and
three of their CDs reached the top ten of Bluegrass Unlimited’s
National Bluegrass Survey.
Northern Lights performs regularly at arts council events,
including series that present a wide range of musical styles,
including jazz and classical, and double bills with renowned
artists such as Jonathan Edwards.
Check out the band history.
Click here to download NL press photo (PDF).
Click here to download NL press sheet (PDF).
|
|
Playing as I do so often with Northern Lights has enabled me to explore new and different facets of my "live" concert experience, like the added power and deeper dimension that extra instrumentation and vocal harmony of their caliber can bring to the utter enjoyment of the kind of stuff we do. I thank them for so graciously learning a bunch of my favorite songs and making it so easy for me to just jump up on stage and know that the people are in for a real collaborative treat. I always look forward so much to when our schedules coincide and we can share our collective love of playing live acoustic music together. They continue to evolve and improve with every concert I see them do over these many years and it's always a pleasant surprise to see what they've come up with since the last time our paths crossed. So, keep it up guys, and thanks again for all the music we've played for each other and for the people. See you next time!
|
|
Jonathan Edwards
|
|
Check out this video of Northern Lights' performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
|
|
|
Bill
Henry (guitar, lead/harmony vocals) started playing
guitar at age 14, inspired by the music of Eric Clapton, the
Allman Brothers and Bob Dylan. But it wasn't until high school,
when he was exposed to the genius of Doc Watson and Tony Rice,
that his devotion to the instrument and his musical direction
was fixed. To encourage his interest in music, his father hand-crafted
a guitar that Bill played on stage for many years and still
uses for practice. He currently plays and endorses Walker Guitars.
The jazz influences that now mark his playing, composing and
arranging were nurtured by a year at Boston's Berklee College
of Music, plus stints with jazz/swing group Hot Off The Frets
and New York City's Charged Particles. A chance meeting with
Taylor Armerding in 1981 led to the re-formation of Northern
Lights. He has recorded with Marty Cutler, Orrin Star and the
South County Rounders, contributed original songs and instrumentals
to all of the band's studio albums, and recorded a solo album,
RED SKY (OMS Records, 2002). Bill lives in North Stonington,
CT, with his wife and their two boys and is a designer at Electric
Boat in Groton. |
 |
John
Daniel (bass, lead/harmony vocals) is a New England
native with a varied musical background. He has toured with
Livingston Taylor and the Mamas and the Papas' John Phillips.
He appeared on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and an ABC-TV Gabe
Kaplan special with Polydor recording artists Stormin' Norman
and Suzy, playing trumpet as well as bass. John has scored several
industrial films for clients such as AT&T and Cadbury-Schweppes,
and he wrote and produced all the songs for a feature film,
And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird. Most recently,
he has been performing and recording on bass and guitar with
singer-songwriter Brooks Williams. John joined Northern Lights
in June, 2002. He is a systems analyst by day and lives in Northampton,
MA, with his wife and two sons. |
 |
Mike
Barnett (fiddle, lead/harmony vocals) a 17-year-old
native of Nashville, Tennessee, has played with the Gordon Stone
Band and toured nationally with the legendary Jesse McReynolds
& the Virginia Boys, including appearances on the Grand
Ole Opry. Mike is a real child prodigy, following in the footsteps
of Mark O'Connor--he's even mentioned on Mark's website. He
is the youngest instructor ever to teach at the Fiddle School
at Vanderbilt University (at age 15), and he put out his own
CD, “Lost Indian”, in 2004, followed by performing
on the Gordon Stone album “Rhymes with Orange”,
in 2005. Also in 2005, Mike placed 9th in the Grand Master Fiddler
Championship in Nashville. Crystal Plohman, Mike’s mentor
and Director of Vanderbilt’s Fiddling Program at Blair
School of Music, describes Mike as “one of the hottest,
fastest rising musicians in bluegrass music.” A resident of Longmeadow, MA, Mike is currently a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His website is mikebarnettfiddle.com. |
 |
Eric Robertson (mandolin, lead/harmony vocals) hails from Greensboro, North Carolina. He's currently enrolled, along with Mike Barnett, at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying with John McGann and Eugene Friessen. Eric was featured as a singer and guitarist with the Berklee College Bluegrass Band at The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival. He has performed in Finland and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He's recorded and performed with Polecat Creek at Merlefest and other festivals, and he has shared the stage such bluegrass luminaries as David Grisman, John Cowan, The Infamous Stringdusters, Dirk Powell, and Tim O'Brien. Recently Eric released a solo album, I'm At Home. He's a founding member of the band, Boston Boys (www.myspace.com/bostonboysmusic), and his web site is www.ericrobertsonmusic.com. |
 |
Alex MacLeod (guitar, lead/harmony vocals) absolutely loves to sing! Years of paid classical voice instruction couldn't deter him from pursuing his passion for singing Americana music - bluegrass, old country and folk. A committed man of faith, Alex also loves to sing gospel and does so frequently for his church. He recalls from an early age, as his military family moved from post to post, his father was always playing and singing bluegrass while his mother, sister and himself clogged. So it was only natural that Alex would join his first bluegrass band, the Iron Skillet Band, while attending college in Keene, NH. He would later form a family band with his father, Sandy, and good friend, Keith Hillyard, called Deer Crossing. In the winter of 2000, Alex joined and has recorded two albums with the Back Eddy Bluegrass Band. Alex credits the music of his father, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lou Reid, The Commodores, and Keith Green as his major musical influences. Alex is a middle school guidance counselor and lives with his wife and three daughters in Charlestown, RI.
|
|
|
|
