Baby Gramps, Robert Armstrong & Fast Rattler

 "Baby Gramps is an amazing amalgamation of everything that anybody's ever heard..." —Glenn Howard, American Musical Heritage Foundation

Baby Gramps is an energetic, humorously entertaining performer with an endless repertoire. He plays a National Steel guitar, and sings his own unique arrangements of rags, jazz, & blues from the 19020s & 30s, and many originals with wordplay, humor, and throat singing.

Baby Gramps toured Australia, England, and Ireland as part of the Rogues Gallery CD Concert Tour with Tim Robbins, Marianne Faithful, Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega, and many other internationally known performers. The Rogues Gallery CD, produced by Johnny Depp, landed Baby Gramps on the David Letterman Show accompanied by Tony Garnier, Bob Dylan’s bandleader and bass player.

Cartoonist, fine art painter and multi-instrumentalist Robert Armstrong will join Baby Gramps on stage. Armstrong is a founding member of the seminal old-time band the R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders. He played musical saw for the opening and closing credits for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". In addition to the saw, Armstrong plays guitar, banjo, accordion, and more.

Joining these gents is Nevada County's own Fast Rattler: Brendan Phillips, son of Utah Phillips, wears his influences on his sleeve. For the better part of a decade, Brendan has been traveling and touring with a rotating and eclectic cast of musicians, he dubbed Fast Rattler.

Drawing from his pops catalogue (including songs Utah never recorded or performed) and the universe of american folk music that he grew up listening to around campfires and at festivals all over the US and Canada, Brendan Phillips and Fast Rattler represents a collaboration of kindred spirits, inspired by all things Utah. Encompassing a wide range of musical influences; from Americana and Bluegrass to gypsy-jammin’ wood-punk, Phillips and Fast Rattler pay homage to the songs of Utah while also adding their own spin, reimagining Utah’s songs in a string band format. Sometimes they all play together and sometimes a song is sung alone, its an ebb and flow, tied to the moment, always attentive to what the song needs. This format lends itself to a dynamic performance, at times intimate, at times raucous, but always in keeping with the spirit of collaboration and always true to the music. 

Come and sing with us! Fast Rattler's line-up includes: Brendan Phillips, guitar, banjo, vocals; Travers Clifford (Dakota Sid and Trav) on Mandolin and Dobro; Cedar Henning (Belfry Brothers) on upright bass.