Redd Volkaert Band with Denny Breau
7-28-2023
Redd Volkaert is known throughout the country music world and beyond for being one of the greatest Telecaster players in history. He played in Merle Haggard’s band The Strangers in the spot previously manned by Roy Nichols. For 20 years he was a focal point of Austin’s vaunted live-music scene. In 2009 he won a Grammy for best country instrumental performance for “Cluster Pluck,” a collaboration with a number of guitarists including Brad Paisley.
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, and picking up guitar at an early age, Redd moved to Alberta where he got his first start as a professional musician. In Southern California in the 1980s he ran into a young Dale Watson who eventually convinced him to move to Austin. Redd spent 11 years in Nashville playing with artists such as Ray Price and The Statler Brothers and eventually Haggard. He never quite liked it in Music City, though, where music work centered around studios so he moved to the clubs and honkytonks of of Austin. A few years ago he relocated to Galax, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Denny Breau of Lewiston, Maine, is the younger brother of the late jazz guitar legend Lenny Breau. A guitar heavyweight in his own right, he mixes genres with ease — folk, Delta blues, country and jazz — “creating a totally accessible musical mélange that captivates as it entertains,” says the Kennebec (Maine) Journal. He began playing guitar at 9 and was performing professionally by his early teens. Denny has performed with many artists such as Dick Curless, Bryan Sutton, J.P. Cormier, Pat Donohue and Steve Kaufman.
Michael “Mudcat” Ward has performed with Sleepy LaBeef, Ronnie Earl , Duke Robillard and many artists. For 40 years he has held down the bass job with award-nominated Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and is a two-time Memphis Blues Foundation award-winner. He and Denny Breau (and Jay Geils) backed country artist Dick Curless on the critically-acclaimed “Traveling Through” on Rounder Records.
Per Hanson is the Portland-based drummer who has toured and recorded with Ronnie Earl, Eric Bibb, Maria Muldaur among others. He once performed with Denny’s father, Hal Lone Pine, and last summer backed Redd Volkaert on a tour in central Maine.
Redd Volkaert is known throughout the country music world and beyond for being one of the greatest Telecaster players in history. He played in Merle Haggard’s band The Strangers in the spot previously manned by Roy Nichols. For 20 years he was a focal point of Austin’s vaunted live-music scene. In 2009 he won a Grammy for best country instrumental performance for “Cluster Pluck,” a collaboration with a number of guitarists including Brad Paisley.
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, and picking up guitar at an early age, Redd moved to Alberta where he got his first start as a professional musician. In Southern California in the 1980s he ran into a young Dale Watson who eventually convinced him to move to Austin. Redd spent 11 years in Nashville playing with artists such as Ray Price and The Statler Brothers and eventually Haggard. He never quite liked it in Music City, though, where music work centered around studios so he moved to the clubs and honkytonks of of Austin. A few years ago he relocated to Galax, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Denny Breau of Lewiston, Maine, is the younger brother of the late jazz guitar legend Lenny Breau. A guitar heavyweight in his own right, he mixes genres with ease — folk, Delta blues, country and jazz — “creating a totally accessible musical mélange that captivates as it entertains,” says the Kennebec (Maine) Journal. He began playing guitar at 9 and was performing professionally by his early teens. Denny has performed with many artists such as Dick Curless, Bryan Sutton, J.P. Cormier, Pat Donohue and Steve Kaufman.
Michael “Mudcat” Ward has performed with Sleepy LaBeef, Ronnie Earl , Duke Robillard and many artists. For 40 years he has held down the bass job with award-nominated Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and is a two-time Memphis Blues Foundation award-winner. He and Denny Breau (and Jay Geils) backed country artist Dick Curless on the critically-acclaimed “Traveling Through” on Rounder Records.
Per Hanson is the Portland-based drummer who has toured and recorded with Ronnie Earl, Eric Bibb, Maria Muldaur among others. He once performed with Denny’s father, Hal Lone Pine, and last summer backed Redd Volkaert on a tour in central Maine.