For Immediate Release Fresno, California. 20 May 2008.

Fresno has become the home of premiere bluegrass band GrassKickers! The group’s members have played professionally and toured throughout the world: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, MerleFest, England, Wales, France, and Holland, to name but a few. Now these talented musicians have come together to fuse their talents into one cohesive, spirited, original bluegrass group, GrassKickers. GrassKickers presents a repertoire that spans the timeline of this genre of music: from the high lonesome sound of Bill Monroe and the sweet vocals of Flatt and Scruggs to the progressive sounds of the Seldom Scene and New Grass Revival, this band covers the entire terrain with the precision picking and flawless vocals necessary to the music. But that’s not all; it’s their original compositions that set the group apart; far from just a cover band, GrassKickers is Fresno’s only real, fully fledged, original bluegrass band.The backbone of GrassKickers is Ron “Bearrrr” Murray. Bearrrr holds down the fort with his rock-solid timing on the bass fiddle. Bearrrr is a Connecticut Yankee transplanted to CA in 1959, Bearrrr has immersed himself in the bluegrass music scene and is the premiere bluegrass bassist in the area; and he sings and writes as well.He has worked with Sierra Mt. Bluegrass, Drought Tolerant, plus more and now lends his bass and vocal talent to GrassKickers. The “mando man” with chops galore is Bob Garcia, who was raised in Virginia, where he first heard the sounds of bluegrass music as a young boy. Bob has been performing in the Fresno area for thirty years, belting out the sweetest vocals in town and backing himself with incredible mandolin picking. Ringing the banjo loud and clear is Dixon Smith; man, can this cat pick! Dixon has played his banjo for audiences worldwide, having performed for Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion and with Tim O’Brien of Hot Rize. His taste, drive, and execution rival only the best in the business. Pick it, son! Some of the finest flatpicking in the nation can be heard at a GrassKickers concert, on guitar and hailing from Clovis California, is Doug Bremseth. Doug began his career at age 16 playing banjo with Stoney Creek and Sierra Mt. Bluegrass. In 1993 he was hired as banjoist for North Carolina’s The Shady Grove Band. While in NC he developed his composition skills on guitar and mandolin in his own groups Wiffer Creek and Doug Bremseth and Lonesome Moon.
He doesn’t just play music; he is the music!
Together the musicians who form GrassKickers are nothing short of amazing!