Frank Evans
Frank Evans fell in love with banjo at age 10 and quickly developed a passion for old-time Appalachian music. He won the youth banjo contest at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival when he was 13 and later placed second over all. He joined the bluegrass band, the Slocan Ramblers in 2010; their first album Shaking Down the Acorns gained attention world wide and earned them an invitation to open for Steve Martin at the Toronto Jazz festival. Currently, Frank tours world-wide and has played at such noted festivals as Rockygrass, Merlefest, and the Jacobs Ladder Festival in Israel. The Slocan Ramlers released their most recent album, Queen City Jubilee in 2019 whick was nominated for a JUNO. Evans is based in Nashville, TN.
On their duo album Madison Archives, Frank Evans (Banjo) and Ben Plotnick (Fiddle) tested their own capacity for instrumental improvisation, technique, and sanity. However, the triumphant outcome is an extremely ambitious yet completely effortless sounding collection of original tunes. Frank’s band ‘The Slocan Ramblers’ are Juno nominees, IBMA winners and one of Canada’s most exciting bluegrass bands. Ben’s group ‘The Fretless’ are Juno winners, 2x nominees and 6x CFMA winners. The two tour the world in different groups, both of which are dedicated to creative and refined instrumental prowess.
Ben Plotnick
Nashville-based, Canadian-born fiddler Ben Plotnick’s virtuosic acoustic album ‘Greenland’ is comprised of both original vocal tunes and instrumentals, and brings elements of folk, country and bluegrass music into a classic swing sound. “(Plotnick’s) instrumental wizardry, paired with danceable rhythm, will have half the audience listening intently while the rest tears up the floorboards” (Kristin Cavoukian, Exclaim, 2016). The album was co-produced by 5-time Juno award nominee Andrew Collins, and features some of Canada’s elite folk instrumentalists and vocalists, from bands such as the Slocan Ramblers, The Boxcar Boys, The Andrew Collins Trio and The Double Cuts, among others.
Ben Plotnick has established himself over the last decade as one of North America’s elite fiddle players. With a variety of acts, he has performed across 4 continents. He has recorded on more than a hundred albums as a session musician, performed at arenas and festivals across the continent with country, folk, Americana and bluegrass bands, and produced 6 records for himself or other collaborative projects. As a classical player, he has performed as a soloist with more than one professional orchestra. As an old time fiddler, he has placed as high as 1st runner-up at the esteemed Canadian Grand Masters fiddle competition. As a member of the Fretless, the band won a Juno award for Instrumental Album of the Year in 2017, to add to their slew of other awards and accolades. As a singer, songwriter and fiddle player in Oliver the Crow, NPR called the duo “An Inspired Collaboration”.
Ben is a full time member of critically acclaimed folk quartet The Fretless, and new acoustic string duo Oliver the Crow. He now spends much of his time in Nashville, TN, or wherever the road takes him.
On their duo album Madison Archives, Frank Evans (Banjo) and Ben Plotnick (Fiddle) tested their own capacity for instrumental improvisation, technique, and sanity. However, the triumphant outcome is an extremely ambitious yet completely effortless sounding collection of original tunes. Frank’s band ‘The Slocan Ramblers’ are Juno nominees, IBMA winners and one of Canada’s most exciting bluegrass bands. The two tour the world in different groups, both of which are dedicated to creative and refined instrumental prowess.