Two Many Banjos

In the spring of 2007 Dave Carroll (Trampled By Turtles) and Marc Gartman (The Gallows) got together on a whim to see what two banjos playing together would sound like. Intrigued by the results they recorded a handful of songs at Marc’s home studio in Duluth, MN with the intention of possibly making a record as just the duo. While satisfied with this outcome they felt they could push things even further. Marc invited The Gallows upright bass player Karl Anderson to learn some of the songs and...

In the spring of 2007 Dave Carroll (Trampled By Turtles) and Marc Gartman (The Gallows) got together on a whim to see what two banjos playing together would sound like. Intrigued by the results they recorded a handful of songs at Marc’s home studio in Duluth, MN with the intention of possibly making a record as just the duo. While satisfied with this outcome they felt they could push things even further. Marc invited The Gallows upright bass player Karl Anderson to learn some of the songs and play a few shows around town. Not long after that Karl’s neighbor, Jillian Lantry, was a lucky find when she happened to hear the band practicing one evening and jumped in on fiddle. Rounding out the group Charlie Parr scratchboard wizard Lane Prekker kept popping up at all the right times. He maintains a fresh and adventurous sound through his percussion bank of washboard, pin, spoons and brushes. All the members of TMB have had their share of creative bluegrass experiences so the idea was to come up with as many diverse and exploratory directions as possible. The bulk of material that makes up their debut record consists of material Marc wrote specifically for this project. The songs are rooted in deep tradition but with a contemporary twist. They perform the music as they think it may have sounded, approximately anyway, before the birth of recording technology while seeking to put new skin on old bone; to create a modern original music out of archaic elements.While the band recorded more material than they could fit on this one disc they joined together only the songs that formed the most cohesive album. Dave Carroll brings his own brand of original instrumental force with the song ‘Candy’ and Marc and Dave together late in the sessions wrote the final song on the CD ‘Day is done’.The harmonic possibilities of the two banjos (especially with Dave’s velocity on the instrument) have proven to be a most welcome journey for the group. An inspired year for the band, they have already recorded their sophomore effort with Rich Mattson (Minnesota music award producer of the year) at his Sparta, MN studio to be released April 2008.