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The Wild Shoats – Wicked Change Up!
We regret to announce the need to reconfigure The Wild Shoats show this Sunday. Lead singer/guitarist Mary Linscheid has contracted a nasty bug, and lost her voice. The band apologizes for the need to postpone the full band, but trust you understand that Mary needs to take care of her health, and recover her voice. They are committed to rescheduling a Wild Shoats show at Elk Creek this summer.
Fortunately, banjo player extraordinare Benny Bleu is still going to play the gig, and will be backed by his bass player Eric Smith, and The Wicked Chicken, brothers Gus and Huck Tritsch (one half of The Wild Shoats)!
Gus has this to say: “We are so sorry that the full Shoats band is not able to make the gig, but anyone who caught Benny at Elk Creek last May already knows what a power he is on the banjo, and with a full band behind him I think this show is really gonna be something special. The Wicked Chicken is looking forward to stepping in and throwing down with Benny!
You can check out a video of Benny playing some of his songs here —> Benny Bleu Live at NERFA 2023 (https://youtu.be/8R3ptHnJmY4) and you can read a little more about his music here—> https://www.putumayo.com/bennybleu
I hope we can announce another Wild Shoats/Elk Creek gig soon, but for this Sunday I hope you will come out to see Benny & The Wicked Chicken; he’s truly one of my favorite banjo players, as well as singers, and I’m excited get him back on the Elk Creek Cafe stage”.
We do realize that you bought a ticket to see The Wild Shoats, but hope you understand and will still join us for what promises to be a great show with Benny Bleu and Wicked Chicken.
Fresh off a two week tour opening for Colorado bluegrass supergroup Big Richard, and their debut album “Yell In The Shoats”in hand, The Wild Shoats will bring their personal brand of Appalachian String Band music to the Elk Creek on March 16th for their first Millheim show of the year. Joined by Upstate NY banjo extraordinaire Benny Bleu, it is sure to be a rocking night of fiddles, banjos, and great songwriting.
Emerging from the in-between realms of Morgantown, WV and Millheim, PA, The Wild Shoats write an alt-folk soundtrack to the strange times they find themselves in. Characterized by the plaintive sound of fiddles and mountain harmonies, The Wild Shoats call on their collective background of Appalachian old-time fiddling, folk songs, and the high-lonesome sound to reimagine the songs and sounds of their home.
Benny Bleu Haravitch plays old time banjo in the Finger Lakes New York – a land defined by deep lake valleys and steep highlands. The topography is reflected in the local fiddle tradition, and Benny’s banjo rolls along having studied and played with regional old-time visionaries Mac Benford, Richie Stearns, Judy Hyman, and Bruce Molsky.
As a former geologist, his songwriting is earth-focused and inspired by the natural world. Benny’s performances are soothing journeys through tunes from his homeland, old songs learned by growing up next to a jug-bandleader, and original modern folk contemplations. Last year, Benny released twin albums Banjo Meditations (featured in Bandcamp Daily’s Best Country Music of June 2024) and Banjo Jubilations (#2 artist and #5 album on FAI Folk Radio Chart June 2024), and embarked on an all-too-uncommon Amtrak tour to the west coast and back, spreading the efforts of sustainability and eco-consciousness in the traveling arts.
