On Feb 11th Pickin' up Steam celebrated anoriginal member reunion to a packed house at Manitou Station featuring Joe Cruz, Michael Burand, Pete Brooks and Dale Martell. Check out the video from that show at youtubePickin’ Up Steam is a contemporary acoustic band which utilizes the traditional bluegrass instrumentation of guitar, mandolin, banjo, string bass (and occasionally, fiddle). Each artist brings to the group a wide variety of influences, including rock, jazz, latin, folk, country and traditional bluegrass.
Every member of this ensemble possesses strong improvisational skills, keeping every performance fresh and taking the music to new heights. The group also places great emphasis on the vocal aspect of its performance singing in well-blended three-part harmony. They bring traditional bluegrass into the 21st Century, with their unique arrangements of bluegrass standards, original compositions with thoughtful lyrics and exciting, complex instrumentals. This is all beautifully displayed on their recent CD “Waltz for Mom”, which was released in July, 2008.