Run Boy Run

Saturday, May 23, Arboretum Cohousing (1137 Erin St.), 7 pm

This Tucson-based bluegrass outfit has been gathering awards ever since it formed, winning band contests at Flagstaff’s Pickin’ in the Pines in 2009 and at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2011. Since then, they’ve been featured on A Prairie Home Companion and have continued to wow audiences across the country with their sweet-as-pie female harmonies and gifted fiddle work.

Press release:

RUN BOY RUN

Run Boy Run will stop again at Arboretum Cohousing as they make their way across the country on their national Something to Someone LP release tour.  Last year's concert was a sell out, and their Madison fans have been eager to have the chance to see them again and enjoy songs from new album. The concert will be held in Arboretum Cohousing's lovely Common House.  Arbco is an intentional living community located in the heart of Madison's Greenbush neighborhood.  With 40 units and 95 members, it is the largest of Madison's three cohousing communities.

The Press Says:

"A must listen for fans of great harmonies and nods to traditional American music"

 - Performer Magazine

"Run Boy Run packs one major Country–Celtic–Bluegrass–Appalachian punch"

- Portland Tribune

"One of the top ten Arizona bands to hear now"

 - Paste Magazine Blog

"The most musical show of the four-day Country Thunder festival"

- Arizona Daily Star

Existing comfortably in the tension between tradition and the musical frontier, Tucson five piece Run Boy Run blends bluegrass, folk and the old timey American vernacular with touches of classical and turn of the century details. Their new album Something to Someone, released October 28th on Sky Island Records, has been praised by Performer Magazine, All Music Guide, PopMatters, The Guardian, and others. The album was recorded at historic Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville, Washington with producers Ryan Hadlock and Jerry Streeter (The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, Elephant Revival), whose attention to detail shines in Run Boy Run's multi-voiced and multi-stringed arrangements. It’s no surprise that the band counts Garrison Keillor of NPR's 'A Prairie Home Companion' and renowned Irish fiddler Kevin Burke among their growing legion of fans.

The band is brother and sister Matt Rolland (fiddle, guitar) and Grace Rolland (cello, vocals), sisters Bekah Sandoval Rolland (fiddle, vocals) and Jen Sandoval (mandolin, vocals) and bass player Jesse Allen. With three strong female voices, singing separately or in harmony, and deeply rooted familial connection to traditional American music, Run Boy Run didn't come lately to their sound; it's in their collective blood.

The unique sound of the band is rooted in the traditional music of the Appalachian South, continuing a sense of innovation in traditional American music put forth by bands such as Nickel Creek, Crooked Still, and The Wailin' Jennys. Run Boy Run continues this journey into music that is dynamic, orchestral, and brimming with beauty. Three strong female voices weave a tapestry of sound, and the award-winning fiddlers cut a path for a tightly formed rhythmic front. Every arrangement is – at its core – captivating.

From winning the band contest at Pickin’ In The Pines (mere weeks after forming in 2009) and a special appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2012, to two appearances on NPR's 'A Prairie Home Companion' (host Garrison Keillor was also impressed enough that he penned the liner notes to the band's debut album), they were tagged by Paste Magazine as “One of the top 10 Arizona bands to hear now.” They've been making fans across the U.S. with their open-ended musical approach and dynamic stage presence, and will take that live show back across the country coast to coast this summer and fall.