Uncle Earl - History

History

KC Groves and Jo Serrapere started the band in 2000. The Uncle Earl biography, however, states 1999 as founding year. Originally they had no real intention to start a band. They wanted to promote a CD with traditional material they had recorded and thus put together a small band to play a few shows. Since the shows went very well they kept on going. Until the end of 2003 the line-up of the band had changed several times. Amongst the members in this period where Tahmineh Gueramy (fiddle, vocals), Amanda Kowalski (bass, vocals), Casey Henry (banjo, vocals) and Sally Truitt (bass, vocals).

Jo Serrapere left in 2003 and plays now with the Willie Dunns.

By the end of 2003 a durable line-up had fallen into place. All the band members are co-vocalists. It consists of KC Groves on mandolin and guitar, Abigail Washburn on banjo, Rayna Gellert on fiddle and Kristin Andreassen, guitarist, fiddler, and clogging. There was no permanent bass player.

In late 2009, the band members were very busy and had trouble coordinating schedules for tours. Rayna Gellert and Abigail Washburn left the band on amicable terms to pursue their other musical projects. The new Uncle Earl line up is Andreassen, Groves, Stephanie Coleman on fiddle, Paula Bradley on banjo, banjo ukulele and clogging, and Rachel Eddy on banjo, fiddle, and bass.