Crooked Still

Photo by Molly McCormick

Crooked Still is one of those bands that can’t be put in a specific box. A string band, but not in the traditional bluegrass sense, their style has been described as progressive bluegrass, folk-country, and even Americana. They have a unique way of continuing the bluegrass tradition that began with Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin.

While they use the traditional stringed instruments commonly found in bluegrass music – the original lineup was vocals, bass, and banjo - adding a cello created a different dynamic, and that’s exactly how the members of Crooked Still like it. A fiddle has been added to the current lineup.

The band began in 2001 when Aoife O’Donovan and Corey DiMario were classmates at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Rushad Eggleston, who attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, soon joined them, followed by Greg Liszt, the only non-musical student in the bunch, who had earned a doctorate in biology from MIT.

Crooked Still had a loyal following in Boston-area clubs, and local music journalists began to take notice, giving them great reviews. The Boston Globe raved about the band, saying Crooked Still is “the most important folk group to emerge from Boston since the early 1960s.” It wasn’t long before they began playing festivals, including huge events like the historic Newport Folk Festival and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

The band gained a reputation as equal parts musical innovators and cultural ambassadors. They thrilled audiences with their high energy on stage combined with an old-time mountain soul. Their technical skill and unusual instrumentation (that cello!), along with their innovative acoustic style, helped them stand out.

Ben Levin with Good Harbor Music manages the band. “Rushad left the band at the end of 2007 to pursue his own music,” says Ben. “Brittany Haas and Tristan Clarridge joined the band in January 2008, and the lineup has remained the same since.” The band comprises Aoife O’Donovan, Greg Liszt, Corey DiMario, Brittany Haas, and Tristan Clarridge.

Aoife, an American singer with a crystal-clear voice, is the lead singer for Crooked Still. She is also a Grammy award-winning songwriter. An accomplished musician, Aoife has performed with traditional orchestras, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra. She co-founded the powerhouse female folk trio, I’m With Her. She has also recorded, collaborated, and/or toured with artists including Jim Lauderdale, Sara Watkins, Chris Thile (with both Nickle Creek and Punch Brothers), Greensky Bluegrass, Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma. Aoife has also recorded many albums on her own.

Greg Liszt is the band’s banjo player. He is also an associate professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Greg has created a unique four-finger picking style, and in addition to his work with Crooked Still, he is a member of the Seeger Sessions Band and the Deadly Gentlemen, recording with both bands as well as with Bruce Springsteen.

Corey DiMario plays double bass with Crooked Still, bringing a diverse musical background to the band. He has performed extensively with fiddler/singer Lissa Schneckenburger and the Brittany Haas/Dan Trueman Band, performing old-time and Scandinavian music. He has also played in Bela Fleck’s house band for his New York Banjo Summit. Corey’s home base is Brattleboro, Vermont.

Northern California native Brittany Haas is regarded as a world-class fiddle player – one of the most influential of her generation. She grew up attending string camps, releasing her first album at age seventeen. She is a sought-after session musician and has performed on Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live as part of Steve Martin’s bluegrass band. She has also performed with Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, The Waybacks, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Tony Trischka. Brittany currently resides in Nashville and shares her passion for music at string and fiddle camps worldwide.

While Tristan Clarridge is a five-time Grand National Fiddle Champion, he plays cello with Crooked Still. He began his music studies at the age of two. He comes from a free-spirited family who lived in a tepee in the mountains of northern California. He was homeschooled, and the family traveled great distances for young Tristan to attend music camps. He now directs the Shasta Music Summit with his sister, Tashina, and teaches at other music camps and workshops along the West Coast.

The band celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of its album Shaken by a Low Sound (initially released in 2006) in 2001. Each song on the album is a delight – as is evidenced by “Railroad Bill.” Ben says the band doesn’t have any new releases coming up, but they will be headlining at the Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Manchester, Vermont, on August 18. “Brittany will be touring with Hawktail and Punch Brothers over the summer, and Aoife will tour with Hawktail this summer and fall.”