"Music is what feelings sound like" Author unknown
The Castoff Band plays very unique
styles of music: a full program of traditional, Native American style
flute music, a full program of folk and bluegrass sounding music,
or any combination of the two. The music of the Castoff
Band is so unique that you may be wondering just how the band got
started playing such unusual kinds of music.
This
band got started when two guys, participating in an historical
reenactment, met and found out they had a common love for music, especially traditional styles of music.
Brad played the banjo and truly loved Bluegrass, Native
American
and old-time folk music. Keith played the Native American
courting flute and had a similar taste in music to Brad's.
Brad
and Keith spent a few hours in a wood shop hand-crafting a pair of
matching Native American style flutes so that they could perform Native
American style flute music as a duo at the many historical reenactments they attend each summer.
Keith
later took up the Mountain Dulcimer and the two men decided to see if
the Native American courting flute could be made to play along with the
Mountain Dulcimer. The experiment resulted in a very unique
and
incredibly pleasing sound. Since Brad already played the
banjo,
combining that with the dulcimer was a logical next step.
That
resulted in a sound that was sort of bluegrass and sort of old-time
folk. They tried slow, soulful songs; fast, toe-tapping songs
and
gospel hymns in various combinations of Native American courting flute,
dulcimer and banjo. They later found that including very
simple,
traditional percussion instruments added even more to their already
unusual style of music.
Before
long, people who had heard them play, or heard about their unique
music, began to request performances at various venues and events.
Performing got to be so much fun, that Brad and Keith decided
to
form a band. The two men, being rather unusual and eccentric
in
their musical tastes, often felt like castoffs in the music world; so,
the name "Castoff Band" seemed like a good fit and The Castoff Band was
born.
Keith
and Brad now play at home, in the park, at historical reenactments, and
are often hired to play at various other venues. Sometimes they
just show up, unannounced, at some public place and play just for
fun. It's all
about
the music, they both agree, so you never know where they may end up
playing. As long as they are enjoying making music, they
play.
As long as there are people who want to listen, they play.
Their performances can be somewhat serious and educational,
but
are often just informal, by-the-seat-of-the-pants fun.
One type of performance The
Castoff Band does is all Native American in style
and instrumentation. Such performances are done on true,
traditional style, period-correct instruments.
Performances
of this nature often include stories and information about the songs,
instruments, and Native American musical culture. This
performance style makes you feel as though you have stepped back into
American history 300 years. Although the Native American style
music played by The Castoff Band is traditional in style and
instrumentation, they want to be very clear that no member of The
Castoff Band is of Native American heritage and they will never claim
to be. We just love Native American culture and music--that's all.
The band also performs old-time
instrumental folk and Bluegrass music. Although such music usually consists
of
banjo and dulcimer, they also utilize a variety of period-correct
percussion instruments. Some of the songs are original, some
are
period folk tunes, and some are just plain fun. This
performance
is like gathering for a front porch jam session back in the 1800s.
The band also has a collection of simple, old-time percussion instruments that they sometimes use to add audience participation to their performances.
If you want a very fun,
enjoyable and unique sound that your audience will be talking about,
you may want to hire The
Castoff Band.