Brother Mule in concert is a musical conversation between three of America’s most gifted acoustic musicians.
The bandmates share the spotlight in a three-ringed circus of extraordinary talent and variety.
Brian Wicklund ignites the stage with his fiery fiddling, Ben Winship plays tasty mandolin as he croons one
of his finely crafted songs, while Eric Thorin pushes the boundaries of bass playing as an extreme sport.
Their debut recording, Big Twang, earned them the Indie Music Award's Best Americana CD of 2005.
It's a showcase of original and traditional vocals and instrumentals spanning genres of swing, old time,
Celtic, old country and acoustic funk.
Here’s what Brian says about Ben:
"Ben Winship claims that he
and I met at a mosquito-infested late night jam at a bluegrass festival. Of this I am left with no
lasting memory. However, I do remember working with him in the same band as sidemen for three years.
His musicianship was of the highest calibre while his humor was of the lowest. He grows garlic and
writes great songs in a house he built in the shadow of the Tetons. He is a renaissance man and derelict.
Ben and I (Eric too) are Gemini's and share the same gastrointestinal temperament."
www.benwinship.com
Here’s what Ben says about Brian:
"When Brian was 13, the legendary fiddler Kenny Baker offered to give him boxing lessons.
Thankfully, Brian followed his fiddler's heart and stuck to music. The Tyson-Wicklund ticket
would have been...well, actually, I'd have paid good money to see it. I wonder if Tyson would
have eaten Brian's fiddle? Brian is goofy, intense, smart, confident and ultra-coordinated -
traits which are all expressed superbly in his playing. His tone is fabulous and his ideas
constantly inspire me to try harder. He makes tasty home brew, can talk like a goat and play
Turkey in the Straw on his teeth. I'm not sure about the gastrointestinal part, but Brian is
truly a gas to hang out and play with." www.brianwicklund.com
Here’s what Brian says about Eric:
"I first saw Eric Thorin (Two-REEN) play at a bordello-turned-Bluegrass-concert-venue
in San Francisco. He was fully clothed. In fact he was hatted in the manner of a rock-solid bluegrass bassist flashing
his big tone and dangling his drive for all to see. I liked him. The next summer Ben and I taught with him at a bluegrass
camp in West Virginia. We played bluegrass, we played Celtic, we played swing, we drank whiskey. I REALLY liked him.
He can be in a band with anybody and make them sound better. He raises the bar as he’s belly up to it. Eric lives in a Rocky
Mountain paradise across the street from a gas station. He is also Swedish and a recovering Lutheran."
www.ericthorin.com
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Ben Winship
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Brian Wicklund
Eric Thorin - Bass
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