Montana Standard returns to LSH with killer trad bluegrass at it’s finest.

Traditional Bluegrass Music from East of the Continental Divide!

These folks have shared stages in Montana for many years, dating back to the mid-1970s. Among them are National & State Fiddle Champions, Song Writers, Exceptional Instrumentalists, Great Singers and best of all, they are good friends who love what they do.

Montana Standard’s combined decades of experience, unique twin fiddles, tight vocal harmonies and rock-solid instrumentation produce an excitingly energetic sound unique to the region, perhaps to the country. Their reverence for the traditions of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin, as well as vintage country music set the stage for a great show!

The band has performed throughout the west and, with this solid lineup and fresh recordings, is expanding their performance schedule and festival presence.

Great Music & Fun Time!

The Western Flyers with Redd Volkaert will stop at Longstaff House following their Western Swing Camp at Monarch.  These guys are the real deal….

JOEY MCKENZIE – GUITAR AND VOCALS

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Joey McKenzie is a musician of remarkable versatility. Besides being recognized as one of the finest rhythm guitarists of our time, Joey is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, band arranger, singer and producer. His unique ability to blaze new trails within traditional music without losing its rich heritage has gleaned praise from some of the finest musicians in the country. His first musical experience began at age of 11, tuning the instruments his father had around their house – a guitar, mandolin, tenor guitar, and a tenor banjo. Around the age of 12, he started learning a few chords and licks on each of the instruments and has been playing them ever since.  When he was 17, he became interested in playing the fiddle after becoming friends with Texas fiddle legend Benny Thomasson.  “I went to fiddle contests just playing rhythm guitar, but I wasn’t really inspired to play the fiddle.  When I got the opportunity to back Benny up in a few contests and hear the way he played, all I could think about was trying to learn to play the fiddle!”  It wasn’t long before Joey began competing and has since won well over 100 fiddle contests and awards on other stringed instruments.  Some of these include three-time World Champion Fiddler, World Series of Fiddling Champion and five-time Texas State Guitar Champion. As a music teacher, Joey’s influence on the music world is very evident. He is much in demand as a private instructor and also teaches master classes and workshops all over the country. To date Joey has taught 19 National Champion fiddle players! Joey is proud of his students who have advanced into successful music careers, as well as the many others who have become life-long music lovers who play strictly for the fun of it.  As a touring musician, Joey has performed in 45 U.S. states as well as Canada, Europe, Russia and South America.  Joey’s performance highlights include The Grand Ole Opry, The Kennedy Center, NYC’s Lincoln Center, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and RFD TV’s “The Marty Stuart Show”.  In addition, Joey has shared the stage with musical greats Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs, Ray Price, Asleep at the Wheel, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Connie Smith, and even a ukulele-slinging billionaire by the name of Warren Buffett!  He has always been fascinated with the great behind the scenes rhythm guitar work of players such as Eldon Shamblin, Homer Haynes, Eddie Lang, Karl Farr, Freddie Green and Oscar Moore.  In addition Joey enjoys restoring, repairing and collecting vintage stringed instruments and says he is still trying to get them in tune!

RIDGE ROBERTS – FIDDLE AND VOCALS

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Ridge Roberts is a 21 year old musician from Granbury, Texas. He first picked up the fiddle at the age of 7 and it was immediately evident that this would be a life-long love. In 2013 he entered and won his first fiddle contest at the age of 10. This led him to working with Joey McKenzie, first as fiddle teacher and now bandmate. Since then, he has gone on to compete in and win many more contests, with several notable championship titles – Grand Masters Champion, National Champion, Texas State Champion and the 2018 World Champion Fiddler.  He spent his early years researching fiddle players and fiddle tunes, concentrating on the old-time Texas style fiddlers and when he wasn’t playing the fiddle, he was thinking about the fiddle, listening to fiddle music, researching fiddle history, playing rhythm guitar for fiddle tunes, looking for fiddles and sometimes just looking at his fiddle. Fast forward to today, Ridge is a 2021 graduate of North Central Texas Academy in Hood County. He enjoys reading, writing, and all things vintage, especially Country music. Ridge plays rhythm guitar, sings, writes songs and composes and will always be a life-long student of music and its history.

MATTHEW MEFFORD – UPRIGHT BASS

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If you wonder how the finest Western swing players got to be so good, you imagine them cutting their teeth on Bob Wills records and taking to their instruments before they learned to talk, Matthew Mefford stands out as an exception to that rule. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Matthew grew up on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, first picking up the electric bass during his late teens to play music more akin to Nirvana than the Texas Playboys. All that changed when he discovered the upright bass and Western swing. It wasn’t long before Matthew found himself at Johnny Gimble’s Swing Camp where he teamed up with the granddaughter of the great swing fiddle legend himself, gifted singer and jazz pianist, Emily Gimble. The Marshall Ford Swing Band was born out of this lucky alignment of stars and soon Matthew found himself part of the fabric of the diverse Austin music scene, as well as founding member of the virtuosic power quartet Milk Drive. Dipping his toes into the bluegrass, country, and western swing world soon found Matthew performing at the largest folk & bluegrass festivals across the US and abroad. 2014 brought big changes as Matthew moved to York, England to support his wife during her PhD. He joined the acclaimed acoustic band Stillhouse and was a featured performer at the Cambridge Folk Festival, Wilderness Festival, and Boomtown Festival to name but a few. In 2018, Matthew returned to Austin and, by the late spring, found a musical home with Texas’ award winning trio, The Western Flyers. Now living in Wimberely, Texas, Matthew tours frequently with the Flyers, accompanies Texas style breakdown fiddlers every chance he gets and stays busy playing in and around Austin and the Texas Hill Country.

About Redd

From country and western swing to jazz and rock, Redd Volkaert is considered a true giant of country music and the Telecaster guitar. Redd is a Grammy-winner and a guitar-playing legend who is renowned throughout the country music world and beyond.

Volkaert played in Merle Haggard’s backing band The Strangers in the spot previously staffed by Roy Nichols. In addition, he has recorded and performed with a who’s who of country music stars such as George Jones, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and many more.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Redd spent more than a decade in Nashville, playing with the likes of Ray Price, The Statler Brothers and eventually behind Merle Haggard.

Volkaert moved to Austin, Texas, where he lived for some 20 years, including performing at Austin’s famed Continental Club every weekend.

Redd now lives in Galax, Virginia, and performs internationally in addition to his residency at The Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia.

Redd is considered an icon on the Telecaster with numerous guitar models named after him. In addition to his seamless ability to conjure up a vast array of complex guitar styles, Redd is beloved for his trademark wit and sense of humor.

Redd won a Grammy for his own work in 2009, after making an international name for himself as lead guitarist for Merle Haggard. His interpretation of the classic Roy Nichols guitar style led to a quote in Guitar Player magazine by Merle: “When I close my eyes, I sometimes hear Roy Nichols playing over there, and that has never happened before.”

He has released five CDs on his own and recorded and/or played guitar live with a host of world-class artists.

Dear Friends,

I’m very excited to announce this upcoming event in Missoula!

John Floridis and Tom Catmull
An Evening of Shared Songs:
A Chance To Listen Not Just Hear
Saturday, March 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Longstaff House
$20 Contribution at the door

Over two and a half decades ago, two musicians from very different parts of the country arrived in Missoula, Montana around the same general time. Tom Catmull, a transplanted Texan from Klein and John Floridis, rolling in off of interstate 90 via a long drive from Cleveland, Ohio. Two guitarist, singer songwriters with very different musical backgrounds yet connected by a passion for “the song.”

Over those same two and a half decades, both musicians have consistently traveled similar paths in Montana with plenty of variety between their journeys to keep things fresh. Tom with several hugely popular bands including The Clerics, Radio Static and Last Resort and John with The Big Ensemble, Burning River and the John Floridis Trio and many other musical collaborations.

Both were consistently among the top vote finalists and winners in the Missoula Independent “Best Musician” poll. Both have been featured on Montana PBS’s 11th and Grant, Live From The Divide on Bozeman’s KGLT, and Tom has been a frequent guest on Montana Public Radio’s “Musician’s Spotlight”, a program that John hosts. Tom was also featured on “Live From Home” a pandemic era project John hosted for Montana PBS.

Over those same two and a half decades both Tom and John have appeared with each other on shared bills many times as solo artists including the yearlyMontana Songwriter Showcase events with fellow songwriters Jenn Adams, Susan Gibson, Amy Martin, Zoe Wood, Ashly Holland and Russ Nasset. John even got in some lead guitar duties for the Clerics at one point, and Tom sat in with an early incarnation of Floridis’ Trio. Their respective groups have shared bills over the years as well.

Festivals, concert halls, brewery tap rooms, house concerts, bars, coffee houses, pubs…. Rarely could you find a venue one had played that the other hadn’t played as well, and not too infrequently played together. But with all of that history, they had never played a listening room, just the two of them, in their hometown until 2019.

On Saturday, March 1st these two well known Missoula musicians will present an intimate evening of shared songs for only the second time ever in the town that has been the venue for most of their respective musical journeys. Songs they have written for the eighteen recordings between them, new songs and maybe some surprises as well.

Two similar paths for two Missoula music veterans converge for a first time  in a warm, intimate setting in the heart of their adopted city’s backyard.

As always, thanks so much for your support of my work,

John

I am really looking forward to this show.  We are stretching a bit this season.

John and Joanne are back at Longstaff House this summer.  John recently won Songwriter of the year and Album of the year at the International Western Music Association and the Montana Governor’s Award.

Brilliant guitarist, Richard Smith, returns to Longstaff House in June.  Besides being a world-class picker, he is a fabulous entertainer.  Hey, he played with Chet Atkins in London at 11 years old..

Matt Heckler is comin back.  Last year’s show was amazing, a good example of what happens if you take a chance on the unknown.  Come again or for the first time!

MATT HECKLER is a solo multi-instrumentalist that barely fits into any ordinary musical category. He tends to keep to the darker side of Appalachian mountain music and early bluegrass but listen long enough and you’ll soon be transported to the mountains of Eastern Europe or a dimly lit bar in Ireland where they honor those who have passed with a gently swaying a cappella ballad.

After touring almost nonstop for years in support of bands like Devil Makes Three, Lost Dog Street Band, Flogging Molly, and others, HECKLER, like the rest of us, got sidelined by the ongoing global pandemic. With the newfound time off, he set to pushing creative boundaries in his home recording studio as far as his mind would allow. Each fiddle, banjo, and guitar track carefully put in place all the while retaining the grit and energy reflected in his live shows. Paired perfectly as the sequel to After The Flood, the Blood, Water, Coal album is a defining release in his career.

Blood, Water, Coal was performed and recorded by MATT HECKLER with upright bass and backing vocals provided by Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band). While recording Blood, Water, Coal, MATT HECKLER released The Magnolia Sessions outdoor live set – the maiden release for the now popular series – which made it to #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts. The Magnolia Sessions was still charting upon the release of Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at #3, leaving HECKLER with two albums running on the Billboard Charts simultaneously.

With the release of his last album, “This Town Is Killin Me”, HECKLER signed off on his fourth album with a national tour. Fans filled the venues for a rowdy solo act, and he held true to the grit of his live shows reputation.

Moving forward, HECKLER has a new album in the works, which he says is his best yet. Keep your ears peeled for future recordings, videos and performances near you.

Alasdair and Natalie will be presenting a workshop on the 15th of April before the 2 shows.  (Yes, it is possible to spend 3 days with them!)  The workshop will start at 7:00 pm just like the shows.  Here is the description they provided.

Based on the fiddle music of Scotland and beyond, the workshop is focused on players of violin, viola, cello and string bass, but other instruments are welcome. The level will be for intermediate players and above. The goal is to explore playing traditional music in a group with emphasis on arrangement ideas and the techniques that give traditional music its particular flavour. Using elements of language and dance, fiddle tunes and arrangement ideas work together to form a larger medley. All music will be taught by ear but music will be provided to take away.

You can register with me at the phone or email (preferred) above or with Alasdair at his website.  We will try to accommodate everyone that wishes to attend.

World-renowned Scottish musicians Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas are back for TWO shows – on Weds 4/16 and Thurs 4/17.  (Last year we were packed to the gills and some folks were turned away so we are planning 2 shows!)