Bebop Hoedown’s music is a fusion of bluegrass and gypsy jazz-inspired improvisation coupled with a sophisticated take on the melodic possibilities of vocal harmonies and pop. Hailing from Roanoke, Virginia, a backwater epicenter of Appalachian roots music, these musicians capture the heat of a bluegrass jam while retaining a formal awareness of more modern and International influences. Longtime students of a vital live music scene with foundations in the mountain music of times past and present, they have developed a unique and thoroughly modern musical voice.Adam Markham is a gifted guitar player, harmonica player, and song writer, with an almost limitless array of material. Bobby Moore brings pure country and bluegrass sensibilities and a keen ear for the soul of the moment in his playing of fiddle, mandolin and banjo. Sonny Campbell’s full-bodied bass doesn’t just follow a standard bass line, but instead bounds along with a Sousa-like back-beat; and the music is all the while punctuated by the percussive force of Jeff Maiden’s tribal-funk hand drums.
This is genuine roots music, tried and tested in smoky bars of a region that prides itself for a truly original and meaningful pedigree. This band has figured out how to combine Beatlesque-harmonies, the energy of fire & brimstone bluegrass, and the sublimity of jazz, and the people can’t help but dance.