Uncle Earl is an American

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...

group, formed in 2000 by

KC Groves Katherine "KC" Groves (born March 14, 1971) is an American mandolin player and singer specializing in old-time music and bluegrass. She grew up in Dearborn, Michigan and lives now in Lyons, Colorado. Coming from a musical family, her father is a ...

and Jo Serrapere. Currently the lineup consists of four women, all of whom share vocal duties: KC Groves,

Kristin Andreassen Kristin Andreassen (born ) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, Old-time music, old time musician and educator. Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, she started her music career as a professional clogging, clogger w ...

Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a ...

, and

Rayna Gellert Rayna Gellert (born December 15, 1975) is an American fiddler, acoustic guitarist, singer, and songwriter specializing in old-time music. Gellert is a former member of the Freight Hoppers. From 2003 to 2009 she performed and recorded with th ...

. They have released three albums and two EPs, and their fifth album ''Waterloo, Tennessee'' was produced by

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

History

1999-2002: Founding

Groves and Serrapere, both American songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, started the band in 2000. The Uncle Earl biography, however, states 1999 as founding year. According to the founders, they had no original interest in starting a band. Instead, they wanted to promote a CD with traditional material they had recorded, and put together a small temporary lineup to play a few shows. After the initial performances went well, the group decided to stay together. Until the end of 2003 the line-up of the band had changed several times. Amongst the members in this period where Tahmineh Gueramy (fiddle, vocals), Amanda Kowalski (bass, vocals), Casey Henry (banjo, vocals) and Sally Truitt (bass, vocals). Groves mentioned in an interview how the band got its name, "We just thought it would be a funny name for an all-women's group," she says. "But we are fans of

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finge ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

, and

Uncle Tupelo Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend ...

. It did come up in our discussion that there's some important Earls in this business. And Uncles." They refer to themselves as "the g'Earls," while their fans have been nicknamed "g'Earlfriends."

2002-2010: Albums

In 2002 the band released their album ''She Went Upstairs''. Founding member Serrapere left in 2003, and as of 2008 played with the Willie Dunns. By the end of 2003 a long-lasting lineup was in place, with all the band members serving as co-vocalists. The 2003 lineup consisted of KC Groves on

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

, and

clogging Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythm ...

. There was no permanent

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low bra ...

. In 2004, the group released their first EP, titled ''Going to the Western Slope.'' Several months later, they released their sophomore EP ''Raise a Ruckus.'' In 2005 the band was signed to

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

, who released their first full-length album, ''She Waits for Night'', later that year. Their second full-length album, ''Waterloo, TN'', was released on Rounder Records in 2007. In late 2009, the band failed to go on tour, quoting trouble coordinating band members' schedules.

2010-present

In 2010, the band announced that Gellert and Washburn had left on amicable terms, and were pursuing other musical projects. The new Uncle Earl line up is Andreassen, Groves, Stephanie Coleman on

, Paula Bradley on

banjo ukulele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

and

, and Rachel Eddy on

, and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. The lineup toured in support of their previous album in 2010, and continue to periodically perform.

Members

Current as of 2014

(1999–present) - vocals,

and

(2003–present) - vocals,

, and

*Stephanie Coleman (2010–present) -

*Paula Bradley (2010–present) -

and

*Rachel Eddy (2010–present) -

, and

Past members

*Jo Serrapere (1999-2003) - vocals, etc. *Amanda Kowalski (~2000-2003) - bass, vocals *Casey Henry (~2000-2003) - banjo, vocals *Sally Truitt (~2000-2003) - bass, vocals *Tahmineh Gueramy (~2000-2003) - fiddle, vocals *

(2003-2010) - vocals, fiddle *

(2003-2010) - banjo, vocals *

Sharon Gilchrist Sharon Gilchrist is an American musician, singer, composer, mandolin instructor and the sister of Troy Gilchrist, also a bluegrass musician. Biography Youth Raised in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, Sharon Gilchrist started playing the m ...

(2004-2005, 2010) - bass *

Bryn Davies Brinley Howard Davies, Baron Davies of Brixton (born 17 May 1944), known as Bryn Davies, is a British trade unionist, actuary and politician who was Leader of the Inner London Education Authority in the early 1980s. Early life Davies graduat ...

- bass

Bass players

The band has had a mostly rotating line-up of bass players. For nearly four years Amanda Kowalski played

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

with Uncle Earl.

joined the band in late 2004 and can be heard on the seven song EP ''Raise a Ruckus''. There is a long list of other bassists with whom Uncle Earl have performed. On their website the band mentions Eric Thorin, Sally Truitt, Erin Coats Youngberg, Alana Rocklin, Mary Lucey,

Laura Cortese Laura Cortese is an American singer, songwriter, and fiddler. She was born in San Francisco and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Mas ...

, Kyle Kegerreis,

Missy Raines Missy Raines (born April 6, 1962) is an American bassist, singer, teacher, and songwriter. She has won 10 International Bluegrass Music Awards for Bass Player of the Year. Missy Raines was the first woman to win IBMA Bass Player of the Year aw ...

, and Dan Rose, with whom they recorded the album ''She Waits for Night''. Youngberg and Thorin play bass on the album ''Waterloo, Tennessee''. Bassist

left the band in early 2005 to play

in the

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar, fiddle, dobro, banjo, bass, piano and mandolin. He has a wide vocal range and yodels. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall o ...

and

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020) was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the In ...

Quartet. However Gilchrist played again at their 2010 Australian Tour. Rachel Eddy joined so

largely handles the bass.

Discography

;Studio albums *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: ''She Went Upstairs...'' *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: ''She Waits for Night'' (

) *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: ''Waterloo, Tennessee'' (

) ;EPs *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: ''Going to the Western Slope EP'' *

: ''Raise a Ruckus EP''

Gallery

:''Main gallery: Uncle Earl at WikiCommons''

References

External links

Uncle Earl's official site
{{Authority control Old-time bands American all-female bands Musical groups established in 2000 American bluegrass music groups Rounder Records artists 2000 establishments in the United States

History

1999-2002: Founding

2002-2010: Albums

2010-present

Members

Current as of 2014

Past members

Bass players

Discography

Gallery

Further reading

See also

References

External links