Cow hippie

Catch me on the Tube 
               👇
https://www.youtube.com/@swampshepherd

They’re nice people who play folk music. One of them laughs a lot, and one of them is a bit mysterious.They’ve played a lot of places, won awards, and taught a lot of people. They have two great kids and a house in the woods.

Pharis and Jason have been quietly connecting with audiences  since their first record release in 2011.  They started out together playing mostly traditional music – banjo, guitar, and sometimes fiddle in an early old time trio The Haints, and backing up their favorite west coast old time fiddlers on a quirky and hard-to-find but well-loved release.  Over the years they’ve moved their original songwriting and nuanced singing into the forefront, and audiences have embraced their intelligent songs, the sounds of their instruments and their clear approach to being two people while singing like one.  Their newest record Tell ‘Em You Were Gold is a banjo-focused release out now on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. It’s a sonic journey through the tones of seven of Jason’s hand-built banjos, original songs and traditional tunes, half stripped-down duo songs and half songscapes made with fiddle, mandolin, bass and pedal steel.

Three Juno awards and seven Canadian Folk Music Awards later, they continue to tour and teach with love and care and two adventurous kids.  

They make their home in Horsefly, BC, where they also build beautiful banjos as J. Romero Banjos.  At home they're building banjos, rejoicing in the outdoors, eating food they’ve raised, and playing music in the kitchen.

Discography
Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (2022 - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Bet On Love (2020)
Sweet Old Religion (2018)
A Wanderer I’ll Stay (2015)
Long Gone Out West Blues (2013)
A Passing Glimpse (2011)
Back Up & Push - Jason & Pharis Romero and Friends (2010)
Shout Monah - The Haints Old Time Stringband (2009)

Staying true to tradition while maintaining a bold irreverence is something that rarely goes hand-in-hand. But Hogslop String Band manages to walk that line, with their roots in old-time string band music, and their energy based in wild rock-and-roll, you could almost call them punk purists. 

It’s an unlikely combination, but given the talents of singer and fiddler Kevin Martin; guitarist, harmonica player and singer Gabriel Kelley; mandolin player and singer Will Harrison; banjo player and singer Daniel Binkley, and bassist and all-round entertainer Pickle, they pull it off with natural ease. The name alone hints at their wacky ways, but catching them live will give you a true sense of these bizarre, seemingly contradictory descriptions. 

They thrive on crossing genres, casting off the confines of straight old-time and bluegrass, delving into a deep repertoire of rock, folk, psychedelic, and original numbers that can only be described as,"The Hogslop Sound." It’s clear that these boys are going places, and they've quickly become one of the most unique and exhilarating outfits on the scene today. “It only gets weirder from here,” they often say from stage. They're not kidding.

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