Andrew Collins Trio

5x JUNO nominee and 7x Canadian Folk Music Award winning mando-maestro Andrew Collins and his fellow Trio string-pullers just borrowed a page from basic carpentry, hitting the nail on the head with their new, double disc set (1 all instrumentals, the other all w/ vocals), cleverly called “Tongue & Groove”.

You may already know the wildly exploratory Andrew Collins through his work with The Foggy Hogtown Boys, the equally mind-bending Creaking Tree String Quartet or the Trio itself – but you’ll never put a label on him for his approach to folk, newgrass, jazz and even some chamber-oriented roots music. Bending and blending genres, these musical shape shifters land somewhere between the re-imagined worlds of Béla Fleck and Newgrass invader, David Grisman.

Andrew’s skills on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, mandola, mandocello and vocals merge with the rich talents of Mike Mezzatesta (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, mandola) and James McEleney (bass, mandocello and vocals) and represent a back-to-basics visitation on what the band does best — spontaneity of the stage and rapid-fire, improvisational exchanges. Appearing to live by the old adage, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”, the Trio’s dizzying number and energetic interplay of instruments on stage are likely keeping them just ahead of his grasp!

www.andrewcollinstrio.com

The Upstairs Lounge is a licensed restaurant and bar, doors open at 6 pm for dinner service, the concert starts at 7:30 pm. Please note this is a listening venue.