Always ready to work hard, these five guys are my teachers, my listeners, my friends.

Daniel Brown was born in Lewiston, Maine, nineteen years ago. He cut his teeth to the sounds of his grandfather playing French Canadian Jigs and Reels on the accordion and harmonica. Encouraged by his parents to learn to play an instrument, young Daniel began taking accordion lessons at age five. 

He discovered the mandolin at age ten while attending many weekend bluegrass festivals with his sister and family.

Lessons were obtained from Bobby St Pierre and Daniel progressed quickly. It didn’t take long to see that the mandolin would be his instrument of choice. He enjoyed playing along with his sister Erica when she played her fiddle. At the Bluegrass festivals there was a lot of fun to be experienced while picking around the campfire with friends.

As Daniel became more interested and experienced in bluegrass music, he began working with his sister Erica and eventually joined Erica’s band, the Bluegrass Connection.

Daniel’s clean instrumental style makes him a hit every time he plays and insures him a promising future as a bluegrass musician.

When Daniel is not making music or working on his schooling, he enjoys four-wheeling and listening to Nickel Creek.

Lincoln Meyers is one of the most talented and dynamic flat-pickers on the New England Bluegrass scene today. His outstanding abilities and innovative style have earned him a spot on the “most wanted” list of today’s bluegrass musicians.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Lincoln spent long hours of his early teens teaching himself the guitar. The son of a jazz enthusiast, Lincoln’s musical background goes way beyond Flatt and Scruggs and Jimmy Martin. Some of his early memories include helping choose selections for his dad’s jazz radio show. He grew up listening to the sounds of Oscar Petersen, Kenny Burrel, and Joe Pass. “My dad was a jazz DJ” Lincoln recalls  “he always wanted me to listen to great players. I got serious about the guitar when I was 15."

During college Lincoln and some local pickers formed the “Missouri Breaks” and played bluegrass festivals in and around Missouri. This allowed Lincoln to hone his skills as a rhythm player as well as a flat-picker and eventually brought him to the National Flat-picking Championships in Winfield, Kansas where he finished in the top five.

Wherever he went, Lincoln took his music. A stint in the Marine Corps brought an invitation to join a group in Okinawa who called themselves “High and Tight”. When his tour was up he landed in Virginia and found himself surrounded by many really good players and was lucky enough to meet up with people like Sammy Shelor, Rickie Simpkins and Wyatt Rice, to name a few.

For the last decade Lincoln’s talents have been in demand on stage and in the studio by many of New England’s finest bands including Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection, New England Bluegrass Band, Adam Dewey and Crazy Creek, The Bogus Family and Gary Pomerleau of Second Wind. When you listen to him perform you will hear the influences of Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Norman Blake and David Grier.

Ken Taylor plays acoustic bass for the group, but more than that, keeps the band tight with arguably the most solid bass-playing in the New England area. Ken originally started as a guitar player with an interest in folk music but was soon sidetracked into bluegrass. He’s been hard at work too…. He was one of the original members of the Central Turnpike Bluegrass Band from the Central MA area. Ken also got a chance to strut his stuff with Slo-Grass also from Central Ma, Rolling Hills Bluegrass, and Boston-based Adam Dewey and Crazy Creek.  He plays like an old master, his style is powerful and his timing is right-on!

Ted DeMille has been singing and playing rhythm guitar for The Bluegrass Connection for two years. A powerful and expressive vocalist, Ted brings his harmony singing skills forefront, joining Erica on many traditional Bluegrass duets. Critics and fans alike have praised Erica and Ted's vocal blend. Ted sings lead and solo on a few selected numbers during a Bluegrass Connection set. A talented songwriter, the band features some of Ted's original songs in concert each night. Ted has played and sung Bluegrass music for fifteen years, first as a member of the southern Maine outfit The Oakhurst Boys, and he also performs many shows each year with the popular Bluegrass band North Star.

Read McNamara started playing banjo at the age of 18 while at college.  As he puts it, “Everyone else played guitar.  After my Grandfather died, I
inherited his old Gibson banjo, so I started playing that to change things up a bit.”  The ancient tones of bluegrass struck a chord with Read, and he
and the four other members of his college band began immersing themselves in
all things bluegrass.