The Schankman Twins at Nottingham
 By Eric Kwiatkowski
DURING THE MID 1970s a friend of mine went over to the USA for the Flatpicking festival at Winfield, Kansas. He returned with a tape recording taken during the finals of the contest that year - a guitarist barely in his teens had taken the championship that year, and made a huge impact Listening to the tape, it was obvious why! That young player’s name was Mark O’Connor - and look where he is now. Moving on to early this year, my friend Geoff Bowers was telling me all about a terrific new young group he’d heard. Now Geoff is a man who knows his Bluegrass, so I promptly bought a CD by this group, and was completely floored. The latest teenage prodigies? The Schankman Twins. How can anyone be so good at such an early age?! On to the evening of 5th July, when Geoff and Pat were once again promoting an evening of quality Bluegrass music, and the artists booked were (you’ve guessed!) The Schankman Twins. The signs of true professionalism were there before even a note had been played. Their mother, Vicki, had been on the ’phone regularly to keep Geoff appraised of events and they wanted access to the venue at 5 p.m. to check the sound system. They wanted to have an extensive warm up before the concert, even though they were on tour and must have known their material to the last note. How’s that for attention to detail?
Michael Alden, Dana, Lauren and David The Gotham City Bluegrass Band kicked the evening off. During their set bassist Pete Christian informed the audience that Geoff was about to perform his death-wish number on mandolin. This Stanley Brothers tune, “Mandolin in the Hills”, was to be played as fast as possible. I like to watch other people work - so did the audience, and Geoff and the group were warmly applauded for their bravery!
A Pensive John Moore After a short break to rearrange the microphones, the Schankman Twins were on. On stage with them were John Moore (of Bluegrass, Etc.) on guitar, David Peters on mandolin, and brother Michael Alden Schankman on bass. It was a pleasure to hear such a variety of material, from a song recorded by theMonroe Brothers’ Rabbit in the Log to the Irish Sally Gardens. The Dillards’ Dooley and Whole World Round first surfaced in England on their widely loved Back Porch Bluegrass LP back in the mid 1960s, and it was heartening to hear these songs in the hands d the new generation. Sweetest Gift was simply gorgeous; a sparse accompaniment, guitar and bass only, with trio vocals. John Prine’s Paradise was lifted by three (if I remember correctly!) key changes during the song. Two favourites of mine from the CD were also sung - Apple Jack and Thibodaux. Michael Alden’s vocals have matured from that of the promising youngster heard on their CD to a strong, solid bluegrass voice which would be an asset to any group in which he plays in the future.
Then Schankman Twins at Conwy Festival, North
Wales There was once a time when high speed breaks by guitarists in bluegrass were unheard of - not now! John Moore made it look so easy - he’s soaked up the more modern sounds from the likes of Mark O’Connor andTony Rice, and forged these into his own powerhouse approach, with the ability to smile and look at the audience while soloing Arrrgh! David Peters played in a way I like to hear - nice semitone slides into notes, with slightly “swung” notes. He also played some terrifying triplets during fast tunes. That’s what I liked about this group - they varied the pace and style, drawing from many sources, and kept the music interesting. Dana’s banjo playing had a terrific Scruggs style rooted pulse - a lesson to anyone in the importance of a good controlled picking hand - no machine gun torrents of clockwork notes! Lauren’s fiddle solos were magnificent - there was no guessing what was coming next, good tone and again, that underlying pulse. Bluegrass music strongly anchored in the time honoured traditional way - how could you beat that? Eric Kwiatkowski, Nottingham | CD Review "Duality" |
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