BOULDER, CO — Leftover Salmon banjo player Andy Thorn never expected to go viral. But in 2021, he was in his backyard, playing an improvised banjo tune to a wild fox, when his wife caught the whole thing on video. The video made headlines around the world. Soon, Andy was interviewed on the Kelly Clarkson Show,The Dodo, and A & E’s Neighborhood Wars. Even Political Gabfestdiscussed the video. A New York Times writer, Ferris Jabr, called it “a moment plucked from Aesop.”
Andy was stunned by the publicity, and by how many people kept asking him about the song. He finally recorded it (“Aesop Mountain”), along with 14 other banjo instrumentals. The resulting album, Songs of the Sunrise Fox, stands in contrast to the music Andy normally plays with Leftover Salmon. This new album isn’t about the flashy banjo picking favored by jam bands. Instead, it’s the banjo melodies Andy would play for his friend “Foxy” at sunrise. The stripped-down band also features Erik Deutsch [Black Crowes] on piano, Greg Garrison [Leftover Salmon] on bass, and Windfield champ Tyler Grant on guitar.
Andy Thorn Photo by Molly McCormick
The first single, “Aesop Mountain,” was released last month asd has already garnered nearly 100,000 listens on Spotify. This is the song from the viral video that started all the Foxy craze (that now has 3.8 million views). Thorn says, “I really enjoyed turning it into a full band tune and Erik Deutsch’s piano brought it all together.” The album also includes an acoustic solo version of the song as the closing track.
Other songs include the upbeat solo banjo tune, “Barry’s Bounce,” which was written right around the time Thorn’s baby boy Barry started bouncing around, while the solo clawhammer number “Stork Bite” was written right after his birth. “Red Sun Salutation” commemorates a wintery sunrise and “Dawn is Coming” feels like the winter storm that it was written about with the addition of Garrison and Grant adding to the mood. “Monarch Morning” is a relaxing duet with Deutsch on piano; Andy wrote this tune in his backyard while butterflies were swirling around.
As you keep listening you will hear more of the songs that were first performed for Foxy during the morning light, sun pillars, and sundown as his furry little friend sat down and listened and then trotted along… Foxy even has kids of her own now. “In a world full of crazy, this brought joy to my soul. Thank you,” Eve S. wrote on YouTube. Andy is thrilled to release Songs of the Sunrise Fox and hopes it sends some joy your way as well.
Andy Thorn: Songs of the Sunrise Fox Track Listing:
1. Aesop Mountain (3:28) 2. Barry’s Bounce (1:40) 3. Red Sun Salutation (2:44) 4. Dawn is Coming (3:42) 5. Stork Bite (2:22) 6. Monarch Morning (3:39) 7. The Morning Light (1:25) 8. Whisker Twitchin’ (1:02) 9. Fox’s Fancy (3:06) 10. Fabled Way (3:45) 11. Trot Along (1:37) 12. Fox Trail (3:05) 13. Sun Pillar (1:54) 14. Silver Thorn (3:24) 15. Aesop Mountain (2:20)
Meeting on The Mountain Live Broadcast Event at Cervantes’ Other Side Sun, March 1, 2015
Meeting on the Mountain Live Broadcast featuring Bill Nershi of The String Cheese Incident, Grant Farm, Dead Winter Carpenters, and Benny “Burle” Galloway Hosted by Tyler Grant with More Special Guests TBA
One Hour Live Broadcast with Interviews and Live Performances Followed by a Full Concert With Sets From Each Act
Denver, CO — Meeting on the Mountain, a new collaborative recording and live broadcast experience, kicks off their inaugural event on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 7pm at Cervantes’ Other Side in Denver, CO. Joining host band, Grant Farm, for this first Meeting on the Mountain are Bill Nershi of The String Cheese Incident, Dead Winter Carpenters, and Benny “Burle” Galloway. The rousing live one-hour broadcast includes performances as well as interviews with each act and gives Grant Farm the opportunity to collaborate with some of their favorite musicians.
There will be five installments of Meeting on The Mountain in 2015 featuring a variety of artists. Each event is hosted by Tyler Grant with The Grant Farm as the house band. It will be recorded, video-streamed live, and rebroadcast at meetingonthemountain.com. The broadcast is followed by a concert with sets from each band. Get your tickets and join them live, or if you are far from Denver tune in the live video stream at meetingonthemountain.com.
The Meeting on the Mountain concept was inspired by a collaborative 4-song EP, entitled Meeting on the Mountain (Sept 2014), which features music by The Grant Farm with Fruition. The song, “Meet me on the Mountain” (written by Fruition’s Jay Cobb Anderson and Tyler Grant) conjures a laid back campfire sing-a-long vibe which embodies the spirit of the new Meeting on the Mountain series and is also the theme song for it.
Meet the March 1st Meeting on the Mountain Players:
Bill Nershi has delighted countless fans as a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founding member of the String Cheese Incident, Honkytonk Homeslice and The Emmitt-Nershi Band, and has performed from the saloons of Telluride to the some of the most sought after venues in America . A seasoned veteran of flat-picking and a variety of acoustic styles, Bill adds a unique, colorful perspective to virtually any musical situation he encounters, and his enthusiasm and playful spirit encourage an interactive, participatory experience for musicians and fans alike. Billy still calls Colorado home and when he’s not on tour he is writing, recording and producing in his own studio, The Sleeping Giant.
Dead Winter Carpenters, hailing from North Lake Tahoe, CA, represents everything the American west stands for. The band seamlessly blends Americana with roots rock and a tinge of straightforward ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ alt. country for hard-hitting performances that are as edgy as they are whimsical. The project pushes and pulls at musical boundaries with top-notch, live performances while walking the line with unexpected world music flair. With an unbridled spirit, and an authentic approach to the art of songwriting, the five-piece captures the freedom of the road with the kind of energy that is made of legends.
The five-piece outfit consists of fiddler/vocalist Jenni Charles, upright bassist/vocalist David Lockhart, guitarists/vocalists Jesse Dunn and Bryan Daines, and drummer/vocalist Brian Huston.
Benny “Burle” Galloway, resident colorado songwriting collaborator and musician who’s first experience at Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1978 set off his embracement of what true American music stood for. Having moved to Denver in his teens with a guitar and a stack of records, Galloway found the area teemed with progressive sounds, plenty of like minded people to play music with, an abundance of music friendly events, and places to pick and sing. After hearing Hot Rize, John Hartford, Norman Blake, New Grass Revival and Leon Russell, it was evident to “Burle” that he had just found a deep well from which to draw new musical ideas and directions. Burle absorbed every sound available from rock to gospel and began crafting his powerful songwriting skills.
The sights and sounds of the country, no matter what part of the country, are what remain the backbone of his compositions. His lyrics spawn melodies that sound like they’re one hundred years old. Colorado’s Front Range was (and still is) a hot-bed of acoustic music,Jams, festivals, and pickin-parties with Burle right in the middle of it all, writing and recording vast amounts of material. As the years passed, Burle found himself working with new and established performers as a member of roots bands, duos, trios, four pieces and more. A lot of these musical situations were built around his tunes, featuring him as a front man, a lead vocalist, guitar and/or bass player.
In the past decade, Burle has collaborated and played with the finest of musicians and bands in America. His longtime producer and friend Sally Van Meter, Scott Law, Nick Forster, Jerry Douglas, Yonder Mountain String Band, Danny Barnes, Larry and Jenny Keel, Darol Anger, Sam Grisman, John and Rebecca Frazier, Rob Wasserman, Shawn Camp, Jon Wiesberger, Travis Book, Mark Epstein, Robin Davis, Jon Stickley, Tyler Grant Jordan Ramsey, Pete Kartsounes, The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Great American Taxi, Emmitt Nershi Band, Head for the Hills, The Grant Farm, Broke Mountain, The Wayword Sons, Town Mountain, Espresso! The host band, Grant Farm is a band on a mission. Lead by National Flatpicking Guitar Champion Tyler Grant (Emmitt/Nershi Band), the talented four-piece is built on the foundation of love, family and the joy of music. The permanent lineup of Grant Farm is Tyler “The Champ” Grant on electric guitar and vocals, uber-talented Adrian “ACE” Engfer on bass and vocals, rock solid Sean “Magic” Macaulay on drums and the phenomenally prodigious Kevin McHugh on keyboards.
The Grant Farm train stops at all stations on the North American roots music line, and is not afraid to let the whistle scream with some blistering jams. After several solid seasons of touring Coast-to-Coast behind their eponymous 2012 debut album, Grant Farm and the 2014 follow up, Plowin’ Time (#2 JamBand Radio Charts), audiences everywhere are a-buzz with the Roots, Rock and Cris-Co statement that Grant Farm brings to every performance. In September 2014 Grant Farm collaborated with the band Fruition to release Meeting on the Mountain, which reached #8 on the JamBand Radio charts and #148 on the AMA Radio Charts.
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