| Bearfoot
has never been your typical band. In September of 1999, 6 teenagers assembled
in Anchorage, Alaska to form Bearfoot Bluegrass. Two months later they were
performing for 20,000 people at the National FFA convention in Kentucky.
No one was more amazed at their success than the band members themselves. Originally, the band was a project of Belle Mickelson, director of the Cordova, Alaska Music Camp. Each of the band members, Angela Oudean, Annalisa Tornfelt, Kate Hamre, Malani O’Toole, Jason Norris and Mike Mickelson were selected from the Anchorage and Cordova music campers as musical representatives. Their performances as Bearfoot Bluegrass were the proof of the rapid musical growth that often results from kids’ music camps. With band parents booking gigs and a multitude of donated mileage tickets, Bearfoot played throughout the Northwest and Alaska promoting music camps. That all changed with their win at the 2001 Telluride Band Contest. From that point on, the band realized that they had the opportunity to play professionally, as Telluride band contest Alumni, The Dixie Chicks (1991) and Nickel Creek (1995) had done. With their first CD, Only Time Knows (2001), Bearfoot Bluegrass put together a summer tour that focused around their 2002 Telluride main stage slot. They lost Malani O’Toole in the process, but decided to continue as a 5-piece band. For three months they played throughout West and did Bluegrass Camps for Kids, which Kate Hamre adapted from the format of the Anchorage and Cordova Camps. That fall, they started their second CD, Back Home with Grammy award winning producer Todd Phillips. Todd really helped the band members hone their abilities and put them through what band members describe as “rhythm boot camp.” With their most recent recording, Follow Me, there is a definite shift in the band’s musical direction. They dropped the bluegrass from their name and have ventured out into the world of acoustic Americana. Their recording features a majority of original songs and it is obvious that their singing and musicianship has matured significantly from their last album. Their beginning as a bluegrass band still shows through as they play the fire out of their instruments on up-tempo numbers like the title track, Follow Me. Their approach to sensitive material, such as Just Stay is equally amazing. Both of these songs feature the genuine songwriting of Annalisa Tornfelt (fiddle, vocals, and guitar) who wrote 8 of the 12 tracks. Her style sounds fresh and new while retaining the vintage sounds of her Americana influences. Each of the band members sings lead on the recording, creating a blend of male and female voices and a diverse listening experience. Though different, the songs have a unifying mark that only Bearfoot can create. There is always the spark that unites the music and shines through in the bands vibrant arrangements. To produce Follow Me (to be released spring 2007), Bearfoot called upon one of their judges at the 2001 Telluride Band Contest, Gene Libbea. Libbea is a two-time Grammy award winner for his work with the Nashville Bluegrass Band. He’s also a great chef, great producer and a human metronome in the studio. The band has released Follow Me in Alaska, and will release the recording nationally this spring.. |