Erik Brandt and the Urban Hillbilly Quartet w/ BanJovi

“These concrete jungle hayseeds from the wind-whipped plains of St. Paul are fervent eclectics, liable to wander into funk, Arabic, or Irish music at the drop of a hi-hat. But their true allegiance is to bands like the Flying Burrito Brothers and their descendents, who like to mash together country, bluegrass, and rock n’ roll.” - City Pages.

It started as a jam session in 1995 in a now burnt-out St. Paul hole-in-the-wall bar. Over 20 years later, the Urban Hillbilly Quartet has grown into an award-winning Twin Cities-based ensemble that delivers an eclectic mix of musical styles, blending electric guitar, piano, accordion, bass and drums. On stage, the Hillbillies perform mainly original material--most of which can be found on their eight albums.

The core of the band is Erik Brandt (guitar, accordion, piano, lead vocals), Jeremy Szopinski (electric guitar), Dave Strahan (electric guitar), Mike Schultz (bass) and Jim Orvis (drums) who have been performing together in the UHQ all over the United States and overseas.

BanJovi - This new duo features Andy Moore of Cork n’ Bottle String Band and Winn Dixie and Colin Crowley who just moved back to Wisconsin from Nairobi where has lived and worked for the last 10 years. As the name suggests, this is a banjo duo doing a unique, traditional African / traditional Appalachian mash-up.