Salamander Crossing

Friday , March 26, 1999
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Salamander Crossing looks like a bluegrass band, but here is the truth: with fiddle, guitar, bass, and stunning vocals, this band brings back porch music into the twenty-first century. Combine the zip of bluegrass, the soul of Appalachia, and the honest clarity of contemporary folk, and you've got the idea. It's sweet, not flashy. It is Roots Music with an edge. For lack of a better term, they call it amphibious bluegrass. Salamander Crossing will play a free, in-store performance at 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 26. The group will then play a full concert at The Unitarian Universalist Church, 855 Grove Street, East Lansing. The concert is presented by the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse. In case you were wondering, Salamander Crossing takes it's name from a unique New England phenomenon. Every spring, yellow spotted Salamanders make their way from an Amherst, Massachusetts hillside to a nearby bog, crossing a busy road in the process. In order to avoid mass carnage, locals built tunnels under the street for the tiny amphibians. At the first warm rains of spring, television crews, radio stations, and print reporters descend upon the hapless amphibians, recording their passage through the tunnels. It's a big deal. Following the enthusiastic response to their debut CD in 1995, Salamander Crossing struck while the iron was hot with Passion Train. Released to radio in August 1996, Passion Train built on their previous success and spent eleven weeks on Gavin Americana, climbing to a peak position of #9. Produced by singer-songwriter Brooks Williams, Passion Train is a deft mix of originals, left-of-center traditional tunes, and covers from Bill Monroe to Bruce Springstein. The Gavin Report wrote that Passion Train sparkles with clarity and excitement that should help this more-than bluegrass quartet turn some heads. Hop on board this train. Salamander Crossing was also recently featured on Signature Sounds Live at the Iron Horse CD performing a rocking version of Gillian Welch's Tear My Stillhouse Down. Salamander Crossing continues to expand its horizons, touring nationally and gaining accolades from audiences and critics alike. They performed showcases at the 1996 International Bluegrass Music Association trade-show and the 1997 National Folk Alliance conference in Toronto. Salamander Crossing was also nominated for a Boston Music Award as Outstanding New Contemporary Folk Act.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Salamander Crossing