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| Chicks with Guns This old time string band features banjo, fiddle, and guitar and is known across the Midwest for their dance music. This trio, specializing in indigenous Missouri fiddle tunes, will keep your feet tapping with their infectious rhythms and creative interpretations. Each member is an accomplished musician in their own rite and has played individually for many years. Together they have a musical chemistry that's as exciting as it is subtle and reminiscent of the spirit of the earlier stringbands of this century. Billy Mathews, on fiddle, from The Ozarks, has been performing as a professional musician for the past 30 years and has recorded 9 different albums. Billy toured the country for a decade with the internationally acclaimed old time stringband "The Skirtlifters". He has shared the stage with such noteworthy musicians as John Hartford, Mike Seeger, Bill Monroe, Joe Burke, John Koener, The Fiddle Puppets, and De Dannan; and has performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals in the country including The Piccolo Spoleto, Scott Joplin Ragtime and Brandywine festivals. He has also made programs for "Voice of America"; the BBC production "Echos of America"; Frank Currier-ABC Channel 9 Denver, Colorado; KY3TV-NBC Springfield Missouri; KFMU's "Sound Of the Wind", the first live broadcast of the world's first wind-powered FM radio station. Billy's archaic, rough and wild style of Ozark frontier fiddlin' has that upbow/backbeat that will get your feet a tappin' and your heels a clickin'. Years of playing combined with a creative character produce a spontaneity if Billy"s fiddling that can get yer' feet movin' faster than you thought possible. Billy has been known to raise gardens, chickens, dogs, cats, three children, houses, barns and the roof! Tom Hall, on clawhammer banjo, has been playing blues guitar around St. Louis for three decades and was a founding member of the legendary "Geyer Street Sheiks". His solid rhythm roots transfer easily to the 5-string banjo, which results in an electrifying effect when combined with Billy's creativity on the fiddle. To date, Tom has released 3 CD's and has won numerous awards, including being awarded "Critics' Choice' for Best Acoustic Guitarist, Best Solo Artist abd Best Folk Band (named twice), by The Riverfront Times, in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. His fingerstyle guitar playing on his National Steel has brought him acclaim from appearances on National Public Radio's Good Evening America to the stages he's shared with the Neville Brothers, Count Basie, Lightnin' Hopkins, Albert King and others. Barbara Weathers, on guitar, a native of Springfield, Missouri; is well known in the Midwest dance circles for her stylish, but exhuberant fiddling. She has been immersed in traditional music for over ten years,having conducted her musical apprenticeship with musicians ranging from Ava square dance fiddler Bob Holt to Kentucky fiddle and banjo player, Clyde Davenport; Barbara has drawn from a diverse range of styles to create a unique sound, which is as listenable as it danceable. She fiddled with such greats as Fred Stoneking, Jim & Kim Lansford, and studied under Art Galbraith through the Missouri Folk Arts Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. She has also been on the staff of The Ozark Mountains Traditional Fiddle and Dance Camp and the Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins, West Virginia. Since moving to St. Louis she has been featured regularly at dances either on fiddle or guitar, and provides a solid backup for the creativity of the other two musicians. |
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