Meet The Band — GET REEL!
DECK NIEFORTH Deck Nieforth’s grandmother carried a harmonica around in her apron pocket; his father was a carpenter and old-time fiddler from Nova Scotia. Apprenticed in the family construction business since childhood, the now Master Finish Carpenter always loved this music, but he was in his fifties before a local fiddler put him and his harmonica in her band. Soon he had two contra dance bands of his own, playing the hundreds of traditional tunes he’d learned by ear. Deck handcrafts fiddles and wooden musical spoons which you’ll hear during French Connection performances because he plays the spoons and Dan plays a 5-string fiddle that Deck made for him. Deck plays drums, feet, harmonica, and washtub bass in some other bands. |
Howie Bursen plays banjo, guitar, and a bit of piano. [When in the mood, he’ll let out some great raspy vocals too.] He has 3 solo recordings, and several with his wife, Sally Rogers. Howie lives in Connecticut, where he is the winemaker at Sharpe Hill Vineyard. He is the proud father of Maya and Malana. |
Martin’s CD received the W.C. Handy Award for the best acoustic blues recording of 2000, and they were nominated for two more Handy Wards for his third CD, “Goin’ Home.” Audiences may recognize Martin from the Cajun group Magnolia. At home in folk, blues and country music, he is a master of the guitar, mandolin and banjo, and in the last decade has added the fiddle for GET REEL! He’s also an earthy singer of country blues and old timey songs. Both of his last two solo recordings, “Call and Response” and “Pay Day”, were released in concerts at The Blackstone River Theatre (BRT) in Cumberland, RI. They feature the best songs from the Golden Age of blues, the late 1920’s and ‘30’s. |
Marie Malchodi is a bookbinder who works in the Preservation Department of the Brown University Libraries. She lives in Cranston, RI with her musician husband, Martin Grosswendt, and twin daughters, Lydia and Sophie. |