Old Time Festival: Brograss

by Adam McKinney and Tom Simpson for OLY ARTS

Our music has a grand tradition of passing the love of music on from generation to generation. Brograss is a great example of this genre’s continuity over time.

Tashi (16) and Kaj Litch (13) learned to appreciate bluegrass early on, thanks to their family’s band, the Crow Valley String Band. At 9-years-old, Tashi took up the mandolin and began busking. Kaj joined in quickly on fiddle.

“We like the driving feel of bluegrass music, the close vocal harmonies, and the chance to break into crazy solos,” said Tashi to OLY ARTS. “People have been playing this kind of music for a long time, but we try and find ways to bring this music to our generation.”

Tashi and Kaj quickly took their playing to major stages. They’ve performed with Brandi Carlile to a standing ovation at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and in Edinburgh’s famous Whiski. The duo has also performed with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, and shared the stage with fiddlers Liz Carole, Randal Bays and other celtic masters. Brograss (in their previous incarnation as Brother for Sale!) was also the youngest band to perform at the Doe Bay Fest.

Brograss has now released two albums of both original and classic bluegrass songs – the most recent of which dropped late last year. The two brothers are finding their voices as creators of music, rather than just interpreters of a classic form.

The brothers are looking forward to the festival. “The Oly Old Time festival is a great little festival with talented visiting artists and lots of young players around to jam with. There’s always good workshops and a square dance packed with people,” said the Brograss brothers. “It should be a lot of fun!”


[Read our complete Oly Old Time Festival coverage]

WHAT
Brograss at Oly Old Time Festival

WHERE
South Bay Grange,
3918 Sleater Kinney Rd NE, Olympia
WHEN
7:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16

HOW MUCH
$20, Free for kids 12 and under

LEARN MORE
ootfest@olyoldtime.org | Oly Old Time Festival

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