Metropolis Ensemble | Groanbox: The Groanbox Boys

PERFORMERS

The Groanbox Boys

American roots trio

The Groanbox Boys are the American roots trio, Cory Seznec, Michael Ward-Bergeman, and recent addition Paul Clifford from Canada.

The Groanbox sound is a highly unique blend of roots music performed on accordion, acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica, and myriad pieces of percussion, including a calabash (African gourd), yew tree log, and their self-made “Freedom Boot”.

Their foot-stompin’ music features unconventional arrangements weaved together by tight vocal harmonies sung with raw intensity. Cory plays fingerpicking guitar on a National resonator, clawhammer and three-finger banjo using a Maryland old time banjo and a gourd banjo, and blues harmonica. Michael is a virtuosic accordionist, hammering out a deep, full bass and accompaniment with his left hand, and authentic melodic lines with his right. Paul bangs out deep, frenetic African and Latin rhythms that get people up and moving in no time. A typical Groanbox live performance weaves all of this into a tapestry of rich, distinct sound and unending energy.

To grasp their uniqueness one has only to look at their unconventional blend of instruments, including the fretless gourd banjo - a deep, funky instrument modeled on the banjos played by the slaves on southern plantations - their yew tree log, and their homemade Freedom Boot. “The Boot” is the Groanbox Boys' synthesis of rhythm sticks used around the world in myriad folk music traditions. It is constructed with a large dowel with 420 bottle caps screwed on to it, a black boot fastened at the bottom, and topped with Bolivian goat toenails, rings, Guatemalan worry dolls, a Thai good luck phallus, and other mementos from their travels. A shimmering golden scepter with an astounding percussive ring, the Freedom Boot draws a crowd like nothing else, and gets people dancing in no time flat.

At their core, the Groanbox Boys express a desire to continue the traditions established by the great folk musicians of the USA, but also do precisely what their predecessors did: play folk music their own way, putting their hearts and souls into it and all their idiosyncrasies as well! The Groanbox Boys have toured extensively throughout the UK and the east coast of the USA. They have released three albums: Smokestack Trilogy, Fences Come Down, and Gran Bwa.

Visit The Groanbox Boys site...