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Allstar's Bio |
Ben Wright, an active and
exuberant musician since the
age of 6, grew up in a small suburb of
New York City. He began studying guitar
with his father (professional finger style
guitarist Edward Wright) at age 12 after
six years of cello study. He played in
numerous bands and ensembles
throughout high school and college and
in 2001 graduated from the Colorado
College with a BA in music. While
attending CC he performed and toured
with the Balinese gamelan, Tunjung Sari,
and the illustrious Bowed Piano
Ensemble led by Stephen Scott. After
graduating, Ben headed for Santa Fe,
NM where he quickly found himself too
busy making music to hold down a day
job. He formed the bluegrass group
Mary and Mars in 2002 with band
mates Sharon Gilchrist and Josh Martin
and, within the year, they were touring
nationally. After Mary and Mars parted
ways in 2004 Ben began delving into
the world of live electronic music, building
compositions out of improvisations
sampled and looped in real-time. He
now performs and tours w/ local alt
country legend, Joe West; experimental
electronic rockers, D Numbers, and most
recently with global jazz groovers, BING.
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Since moving to Santa Fe in
1994 Susan Hyde Holmes has
become a rhythm section mainstay. For
years she played bass for folk icons Bill
and Bonnie Hearne and later the Bill
Hearne Trio, traveling to Texas, Oklahoma,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Arizona,
Utah and Nevada, often opening for
artists such as Steve Earle, Nancy
Griffith and Lyle Lovett. Susan produced
and played on Bill Hearne's 2004 solo
release "From Santa Fe to Las Cruces,"
now in its third printing. Currently,
Susan is happy playing in several
groups: with the soulful singer/songwriter
Boris McCutcheon as part of his
fine band the Saltlicks, also the somewhat-
surfy, all-instrumental band Milo
de Venus, and, most recently, a delightful
foray into jazz and swing in an as-ofyet
unnamed combo with guitarists
Lewis Winn and George Langston and
drummer Ryan Anthony. Something of a
songwriter, back in her home town of
Lawrence, Kansas, Susan has twice
been a finalist in the Kaw Valley
Songwriters' Competition. But in New
Mexico, it was her Milo de Venus composition
"Little Big Hair" that took honors
as Best Musical Production in the
Punk category at the 2004 New Mexico
Music Awards.
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Through the early '90s Joe West
performed music and theater in
New York City in Off-Off Broadway
companies and as a regular street
performer and folk-club troubadour.
In 1997 Joe moved to Austin, Texas
where he formed the bizarre Alt-Country
band Joe West And The Sinners, often
sharing the stage with such Texas legends
as Jon Dee Graham, Dale Watson,
and Wayne "The Train" Hancock. In
1999 Joe's first self-release "Jamie Was
a Boozer" was voted as one of the
"Top-Ten Texas Platters" by the Austin
Chronicle's prestigious Critic's Poll and
Joe was voted one of the "Top Male
Vocalists" by the Chronicle's Reader's
Poll. In 2001 Joe returned to his hometown
of Santa Fe, New Mexico where he
became a local mainstay, holding a
weekly residency at the notorious
Cowgirl Hall of Fame. In 2002 Joe
signed on with with Frogville Records,
an independent label focused on the
fringes of alternative country music.
Frogville supported the recording of his
last two CDs; "South Dakota Hairdo"
and "The Human Cannonball", both
receiving marvelous reviews and charting
the Top 5 on both the Freeform
Americana Radio Chart and the Euro-
Americana Radio Chart. Since then, Joe
has toured extensively in the United
States and Europe, sharing the stage
with an eclectic list of artists such as
Sarah Lee Guthrie, Iris DeMent, and the
Violent Femmes.
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Sharon Gilchrist grew up in
Dallas, Texas playing mandolin,
upright bass and singing her heart out.
Most of her time was spent traveling
the country with her big brother Troy in
a kid's bluegrass band. From there, she
moved to Nashville and studied mandolin
at Belmont University. While
immersed in Music City USA, Sharon's
musical bag of tricks diversified by
quantum leaps as she began playing
classical music, swing, country and rock,
and composing music for a series of
performance art pieces, an endeavor
she plans to pursue in the future.
Sharon then left the bright lights of
Nashville for the solitude and serenity
of The Land of Enchantment: New
Mexico—to explore the world of
abstract art and such. Upon her arrival
in Santa Fe, things took an unexpected
turn when Sharon rediscovered her
bluegrass roots. She has since toured
with the likes of Mary & Mars (with
Santa Fe All-Star bandmate Ben), the
Bill Hearne Trio (with Santa Fe All-Star
bandmate Susan) and Rounder recording
artists Uncle Earl, an all-female oldtimey
bluegrass band. Sharon can
currently be seen performing with the
Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet.
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