Milwaukee Bluegrass All Stars

The Bluegrass All Stars are a group of fun veteran musicians who's roots keep them coming back to each other and Bluegrass Music. We all started out in bluegrass, but as the years went by the siren song of other forms of music – and steadier paychecks – helped us to stretch our musicality. We bring that all back to the show along with our love of playing and singing traditional country and bluegrass. Mixing Scruggs and Crow with Hank and Haggerd seems absolutely natural to us. Our line up has ‘Cotton’ Tom Schwark on the mandolin and fiddle, Dan Nimphius on the hard drivin' banjo and dobro, Jim ’JP’ Price pickin' on the guitar, and Big Jim Meyers slappin' on the old stand up bass. When the Bluegrass All Stars turn it on you can feel the rhythm down to your toes. With four guys that love to sing, the harmonies are sweet and often and with a little coaxing we can get Cotton Tom to rattle the house with that great bass voice of his. All of the Men have all been playing professionally on and off since the late 70's. Often times with one or another of the other pickers. The versatile JP was a founding member the outstanding Grass Food and Lodging group, playing mandolin at the time. Dan Nimphius was a founding member of Woodsong the Brew County Rounders. Cotton Thomas and Big Jim were fooling around playing the classics in the Ad Hoc Citizens Band. Later Cotton Thomas joined Dan with the Rounders after his time with Grass Food and Lodging. When the Rounders were between bass players Jim Meyers was borrowed from the Industrial Valley Rangers. So 30 years later and countless bands under our belts, I guess it was almost inevitable that we find our way back to our Bluegrass roots. The deep friendships mixed with our sense of humor keeps this show rolling. From blistering banjo breakdowns to hard core country classics, the Bluegrass All Stars do ‘em like they should be done.