DEADGRASS

Matt Turk and C Lanzbom joined forces to form Deadgrass, a string band adventure through Jerry Garcia’s musical world. Bassist Dave Richards, banjo player Boo Reiners and fiddler Kensuke Shoji complete this fine group of seasoned pros exploring the life works of Jerry Garcia on the instruments that first inspired him. Deadgrass celebrates and interprets the music of Jerry Garcia, drawing from Old & in the Way, JGB, Jerry’s Jug Band days and The Grateful Dead.

A seasoned recording artist and multi-instrumentalist, Matt Turk is a veteran performer who has performed and recorded with Pete Seeger, opened for Judy Collins, The Doobie Brothers, Fiona Apple and the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart. He has performed at the Clearwater Festival, Gathering of the Vibes, Atlanta’s Music Midtown, Jazz at Lincoln Center The Capitol Theatre and The Beacon Theatre. Matt has recorded for Warner Bros Records with Gaby Moreno & Matter Music.

Grammy award winner C Lanzbom is a touring and studio guitarist with producing, performing, writing and engineering credits with Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Crystal Bowersox, Shlomo Carlebach and Soulfarm. C’s studio, Sherwood Ridge, is a state of the art recording facility just north of New York City. C has numerous television and film song placements. His affection and passion for Jerry Garcia’s music has been a major influence.

Bassist Dave Richards performs in Hamilton on Broadway and has recorded and performed with The Indigo Girls, Rosanne Cash, Buster Poindexter, Madeline Peyroux, Jewel and Richie Havens. He has toured throughout Europe, Canada and the USA, appearing at Ottawa Jazz, Toronto Blues festival, The Hollywood Bowl and Austin City Limits. At the age of 17 Dave was playing jazz five nights a week in Orlando, Florida with Billy Peebles, the drummer for Ray Charles on many classic Atlantic recordings.

Banjo player Boo Reiners is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed, recorded, filmed and toured with Dispatch, Phil Lesh, Al Kooper, Pete Seeger, Charlie Louvin, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka, Michael Moore, Amy Poehler, Natalie Merchant, Martin Sexton, and many others. In the studio and on tour with world music pioneers The Klezmatics, he helped the group to win their 2007 Grammy Award for “Wonder Wheel: Lyrics By Woody Guthrie.”

Jazz violinist Kensuke Shoji was born in Gifu, Japan. He joined his father’s bluegrass band as a teenager. As a young adult he moved to the U.S.A. to study jazz violin with Berklee String Department chair Matt Glaser, and world renowned violinist Christian Howes. Dedicated to improvisation, Kensuke moved to New York City in 2013 to play with Alex Hargreaves, Barry Harris, Jacob Jolliff, Maria Muldaur and more.