The Plate Scrapers headline RLC Bluegrass Thursday with Atlanta's Alex & Todd and Nashville's Jesse & Noah opening the show. Join in our weekly open bluegrass jam at 6pm before the show begins at 8pm.
$5 Adv – $8 Door
Doors @ 6 PM (pre-show open jam)
The Plate Scrapers are a four piece string band performing traditional bluegrass and old-time tunes, topped off with a helping of their own original material. The bands wide taste in music, ability to jam, and impeccable instrumentation, will keep you coming back for seconds!
One evening in the fall of 2013, four wayward string musicians--Derek Kretzer, Brett Kretzer, Andrew Jordan, and Evan Bell--performed an impromptu, unrehearsed show at The Broad Axe, Hagerstown's favorite local bar and music venue. Before that night--during which they played under the off-the-cuff moniker Still On A Hill--the four of them had never played as a group before. Yet the chemistry was undeniable, and after a boot-stomping good time and an enthusiastic response from the crowd at their first show ever, the only option was to see where this magnetic combination of diverse beards and natural picking ability could lead them.
Sunday evenings for the rest of that year, and much of the next, were spent at a good friend's family farm, where pickers regularly gather to jam on everyone's most loved old time and bluegrass tunes. Surrounded by conversation, laughter, and dancing, the quartet grew more and more comfortable playing together. The accompanying lineup varied from week to week, but as time went on Derek, Brett, Andrew and Evan began to stand out as a group musically--and also for their insatiable appetites. With plenty of home-cooked food always being abundant on "Pickin' Sundays", the boys earned themselves their band name: The Plate Scrapers.
Jams turned into regular practices, which led to gigs, each of which led to new opportunities. The boys put their noses to the grindstone. In just under a year as an "official" band, The Plate Scrapers already have two multi-state tours under their belt, a full-length live album, and an impressively large and dedicated fan base, and there's no sign of slowing down. It's no surprise; their natural musicianship and technical ability coupled with like-able personalities, highly animated performances, and wildly impressive improvisational skills make for an unforgettable combination. Their unique takes on classic favorites are always on point, but it's their original numbers that steal the show: astute lyrics that are thoughtful and clever, yet simple and universal. Set to catchy, danceable melodies, featuring face-melting licks and pitch-perfect harmonies, The Plate Scrapers repertoire is full of songs you'll want to get stuck in your head.
Each one a lifelong musician, The Plate Scrapers are polished, yet they maintain the organic, raw style that drew them all to bluegrass in the first place. They are each as relatable as the music they make together; they're just four guys doing what they love, and loving what they do.
Both Alex and Todd are well-known in the Atlanta music scene. Alex has played guitar and banjo since grammar school in folk, old-time, and bluegrass groups, and lead guitar in rock bands. He has played with Larry Campbell of Bob Dylan, Phil Lesh and Levon Helm fame, Mike Dowling, Toby Walker, and David Bromberg. He is the most accomplished fingerpicker and you will hear the influence of Doc Watson, Norman Blake, David Bromberg, Merl Travis and other Delta blues musicians. Alex was an original member of The Atlanta Area Friends of Folk Music and has played in bluegrass groups including fifteen years with The Sorghum Syrup Soppers Old-Time String Band. He has also played in many diverse musical situations from The Galax Old-Time Fiddler’s convention to rock and roll bands.
Todd started playing bass in high-school bands and has since played professionally since the late ‘80’s. He has played with many local Atlanta acts and has studied with Jack Casady and Bryon House. He’s played almost every Atlanta venue and with Alex by his side his musical voice comes to fruition. Though primarily a bassist, Todd is an accomplished drummer and guitarist fronting and participating in many local musical projects.
Alex and Todd are alumni of Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch. They had to go all the way to the Ranch in Ohio to meet and thank goodness they did as the love and respect for music that was germinated in the Ohio River Valley has blossomed into a musical embrace here in Atlanta, an embrace that seems to grab and include those within earshot. The interplay between Alex’s acoustic fingerpicking and Todd's melodic bass guitar has provoked positive notices all over Atlanta. They are simply the most stunning duo around.
Once primarily family affairs and a mainstay of the American musical landscape, traditional music duos have been replaced by music business pre-packaged duos created by label executives. Jesse and Noah have re-claimed the age-old concept of the “brother duo” and reinvented it for the Americana era.
Raised by baby-boomer parents and World War II era grandparents on the family farm in Darby, FL during the 1990s when the post-punk and alternative movements were in full effect, Jesse and Noah were exposed to a wide range of musical influences. Elements of Traditional Country Music, 60s & 70s rock, and music they heard and loved as teenagers, when they were first learning to play, trickle through their musical arrangements giving them a distinctly Americana sound but without the limits of a strict classification.
The brothers have created a unique sound, incorporating their close-harmony, impressive guitar skills, and eclectic songwriting, firmly rooted in traditionalism but with a fearless expansion of modern inference. As multi-instrumentalists and songwriters, the brothers spend hours writing, producing, and recording new music in their home studio in Franklin, TN when they are not touring.
2013 saw the release of Driven Back, the brother's most well received project to date. With the title track being featured on the CW network's popular 90210 television series, CD Release events soon followed in New York City, SXSW in Austin, Florida, and Middle TN. Promoting the album included touring central Europe as well as the US with the personal and professional highlight being invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. The brothers very appropriately chose “The Homer Bellamy Centennial Blue Yodel” a song written for the occasion of what would have been their grandfather's 100th birthday. The song, a tribute to the man that solidified their love for early country and western and blues music, exemplifies the brothers’ respect for tradition with their inventive musical approach.