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| Bo Grumpus |
 The Bo Grumpus trio consists of Craig Ventresco on guitar and banjo, Pete Devine on assorted percussion, and Marty Eggers on string bass. Craig started playing banjo when he was four years old, but he got interest in old ragtime records as a kid from listening to Terry Waldo NPR radio show, This Is Ragtime. He has since developed his own powerful and brilliant style on both guitar and six-string banjo. He can be heard playing solo on the soundtrack of the documentary Crumb, which is based on the life of the famous underground cartoonist and fellow 78 record collector, Robert Crumb. Pete Devine is probably the best washboard player in the world. His percussion set contains a pile of equipment from temple blocks to auto horn that reminds one somewhat of Spike Jones or the Hoosier Hot Shots. Amazingly, he is able to get not only the rambunctious style of the jug and novelty bands, but also the subtle light percussion of the 1940s ballad records. Marty Eggers combines an encyclopedic knowledge of the ragtime and early jazz repertoire with a mastery of old fashioned New Orleans acoustic bass. In addition to Bo Grumpus, he can be heard in live performance and on record with a number of the best current trad groups including Lu Watters'' veteran Bob Helm''s new band. Marty is also a fine ragtime pianist. |
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