Artist Bios
The Spinney Brothers
Nova Scotia has a long bluegrass tradition of playing and
enjoying bluegrass music that started early in the 1950’s when
the Kentville radio station popularized the “hillbilly music” of
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. And due to devotion to the genre
by the likes of the Spinney Brothers, bluegrass music still
flourishes in the Annapolis Valley.
Thanks to the groups like the Spinney’s, the saying “country
rocks but bluegrass rules” applies to the rural musical scene.
This was acknowledged publicly some four years ago when MLA
Brooke Taylor petitioned the government to salute the music that
“has grown in leaps and bounds in popularity across both Nova
Scotia and Canada over the past 25 to 30 years.”
Taylor said the province has the oldest bluegrass festival in
Canada, singling out the Spinney Brothers as a major contributor
to the music’s popularity. The Spinney Brothers have earned this
recognition by their devotion to bluegrass. In bluegrass circles, they’re hailed for what critics call duet
singing and instrumental playing “as tight as you’ll find in
bluegrass today.”
The current band of Allan Spinney on guitar, Rick Spinney on
banjo, joined by Gary Dalrymple on mandolin and fiddle and Terry
Mumford on stand-up bass form the string instrument combination
that has been the classic bluegrass format since the sound first
crystallized some 60 years ago. The string band format was
created and popularized by Bill Monroe, the man credited with
creating the bluegrass sound.
The Spinney Brothers band has remained true to the roots of
bluegrass in all its album releases, including the lates, which
feature original pieces by Valley songwriters Wava Jordan and
Ryan Roberts. The new CD also offers gospel songs in bluegrass
style and plenty of the energetic, hard-driving string music
that’s the core of bluegrass.
“We want our recordings to represent traditional bluegrass
music in a true and honest way,” the Spinney Brothers note on
the jacket of their new release. Give a listen and you’ll find
that’s exactly what they’ve accomplished.
The Blueberry Bluegrass & Country Music Society are pleased
to welcome the Spinney Brothers, back by popular demand, for our
25th anniversary festival. If you haven’t seen these boys yet,
don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the greatest Canadian
bluegrass groups around!
Visit the Spinney Brothers website at:
www.spinneybrothers.com
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