Mile Twelve (USA) in Ireland till 7 May - see them if you can! (Updated)

Mile Twelve playing in Ireland, from a photo on Bluegrass Today

Thanks to John Nyhan for this report on the first few days in Ireland of the rising young bluegrass band from Boston, Mile Twelve:

Just to let you know that Mile Twelve are sounding great. They arrived on Monday and played the Mill Bar, Sixmilebridge, that night. They got a great response from the audience. Their set included some great classics like 'Any old time', 'Jack o' diamonds', 'The last goodbye', 'Blue and lonesome', and a great surprise was a wonderful version of the George Jones classic, 'She thinks I still care'. To hear it sung by such a young group was something special.

Their original material was also great - some of them written in classic bluegrass style, also an original that could have been written by the great Hank Williams himself. When they wanted to, they could be very progressive. On one original, they played it in different unusual timings. Their arrangements were very well thought out. They had great stage presence. Instrumentally, they would hold their own with the best.

The fiddle playing of Bronwyn Keith-Hynes was incredible. Of course I only learned from herself that a couple of years ago she won the Winfield fiddle contest. I am not surprised.

BB Bowness is a fabulous banjo player; she has great taste and really knows when and when not to drive it... wonderful dynamics.

Nate Sabat is a top-of-the-range bass player... as someone in the audience said, he is all over it. Again, he plays with taste and has great dynamics.

Evan Murphy is a fine guitarist and his solos are very effective. Evan does most of the lead singing, and he sounds great. Nate is also a fine vocalist. BB sang 'Any old time' and made it her own. They all sang harmony in duos and trios - again, very well worked out.

The following morning they played at a primary school in Shannon town. They gave a great show and had a great rapore with the school children - taught them some choruses and had them singing along.

All I can say is that THE FUTURE OF BLUEGRASS IS SAFE with such a wonderful young band like Mile Twelve.

Mile Twelve are scheduled to be in Ireland till 7 May, and all their dates are on the BIB calendar as well as here.

Update 22 Apr.: A feature on the band has just appeared on Bluegrass Today, with four photos, of which one is shown above.

Update 23 Apr.: See Tom Weekes's comment on their Tramore show last night, appended to the BIB post for 23 Mar.