Trampled by Turtles is another band in the Alt Folk movement manned by rockers who decided to dabble in acoustic music as a change of pace and found so much success with it that it stuck. Hailing from Minnesota, the group has become a darling of the Mumford & Sons/The Avett Brothers wing of the genre, playing their own brand of music using Bluegrass instrumentation.
“We have always played well together,” guitarist and singer Dave Simonett says in a recent Audio-Files documentary. “We have never been the most technically proficient band in the world, but we love to play together.” That collective enthusiasm is a big part of why the band’s passionate fan base considers the group big fun. The rest of the band includes Erik Berry on mandolin, Dave Carroll on banjo, Tim Saxhaug on bass and Ryan Young on fiddle.
After Trampled by Turtles began to experience some success, they were almost lured to the dark side by a major record label, which tried to change the group’s sound. Fortunately, this happened before the contract was signed and the band has remained independent.
Since then, the ensemble has effectively increased their profile with appearances at festivals such as Stagecoach, Coachella and Telluride Bluegrass Festival, as well as on TV shows like Squidbillies and The Late Show with David Letterman.
TRAM PLED BY TUR TLES plays with The Apache Relay Friday, Nov. 15 at Taft Theatre downtown. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here .
