Larry Hanks and Mike Marker: Folk Music, Brian Thurber: Texas Style Fiddle Tunes December 28, 2007

Larry Hanks and Mike Marker are folksingers who play banjo, guitar, 12-string guitar, mouth harp and charrango. Their songs and instrumental accompaniments are rooted in blues, Appalachian ballads and folk music traditions from the British Isles. Hanks and Marker play their own compositions as well as music of Leadbelly, Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotton, Stephen Foster, Malvina Reynolds and Woody Guthrie.

Brian Thurber presents Texas swing or contest style fiddling which has its roots in the juke joints and roadhouses of the pre WWII southwest. Many of the basic melodies go back hundreds of years, but the chords that back up the tunes are modern swing chords. He also includes bluegrass, Celtic and contra dance music. Brian Thurber studied classical violin and started playing bluegrass and old fiddle tunes when he moved to Whatcom County in the 1970s. He has played in several local groups and currently plays with Katz and Dogz and the Dunton Sisters.