Foghorn Stringband is an old-time

Old-time music

Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...

 string band

String band

A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.-String bands in old-time music:...

 from Portland, Oregon, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States. They are considered one of the finest old-time string bands on the West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

. According to their booking agent, they are noted for "intense dedication to the sources" of the old time tradition. Their music is billed as "a blend of high-spirited Appalachian dance music tying in sounds of traditional mountain fiddle tunes." Their interpretation of old time is played with the energy and edginess of punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, while at the same time showing a tremendous degree of technical finesse.

The group has performed at festivals all over the world, including at the Shetland Folk Festival in Shetland, UK, the Orkney Folk Festival in Orkney, UK, and in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and Malaysia. U.S. appearances include the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention, the Alaska Folk Festival

Alaska Folk Festival

The Alaska Folk Festival is an annual celebration of folk music from Alaska, the Northwestern United States, Canada, and further. It is held in Juneau, Alaska and most commonly occurs during the second week of April. It features performances from a wide variety of solo artists and musical groups,...

, and the Sacajawea Bluegrass Festival.

Members of the group also perform as the Foghorn Duo (mandolin and fiddle) and the Foghorn Trio (mandolin, fiddle, and Nadine Landry on guitar). Foghorn Stringband also performs with Dirk Powell as the Dirk Powell Band.

History

The founding members of the band met at The National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest in Weiser, Idaho

Weiser, Idaho

Weiser is a city in the rural western part of the U.S. state of Idaho and the county seat of Washington County. With its mild climate, the city supports farm, orchard, and livestock endeavors in the vicinity. The city sits at the confluence of the Weiser River with the great Snake River, which...

 in 2000. The band was originally named Foghorn Leghorn and the lineup consisted of Stephen "Sammy" Lind on fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

 and harmony vocals, the Reverend P. T. Grover, Jr., on banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, Caleb Klauder on mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

 and harmony vocals, and Brian Bagdonas on bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

. Lead singer and rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

ist Kevin Sandri joined later, replacing the original fifth member of the group. Nadine Landy later replaced Bagdonas on bass, Peter
Leone replaced Grover on banjo, and Patrick Lind replaced Sandri on guitar.

Discography

In September 2002, the group changed its name to Foghorn Stringband and recorded an album Rattlesnake Tidal Wave, which they self-released on their own Foghorn Music label in June 2003. Another self-released album, Reap What You Sow, came out in August 2004. Like many other modern string bands, Foghorn moved to a major label, releasing its third album, Weiser Sunrise, on pop label Nettwerk America

Nettwerk

The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...

 in August 2005. Boombox Squaredance is a collection of outtakes from the Reap What You Sow sessions released in spring 2007. Sud de la Louisiane by the Foghorn Trio was released in October 2010.

Solo work

Caleb Klauder also performs country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 with his Caleb Klauder Country Band, and has released two albums: Dangerous Me and Poisonous Yous (2007) and Western Country (2010). Klauder is also a member of Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy

Joel Savoy

Joel Savoy is a Cajun musician and music producer from Southwest Louisiana. His father Marc Savoy, famous accordion builder and musician, and his mother, Ann Savoy, author and music producer, are well known ambassadors and supporters of preserving the Cajun culture.-History:Joel Savoy was born in...

& The Cajun Country Revival.