Mr. Sun is playing Nutcracker

Mr. Sun includes some of the most original musicians to have signed up for the American String Band. Legendary violinist Darol Anger thrives in many musical genres, some of which he helped invent, and is part of the original “nuclear” generation of pickers that expanded bluegrass, jazz and classical music to find common ground; Mr Sun is the latest version of this legacy. Joe K. Walsh is one of the greatest contemporary mandolinists, with 4 years of work in the Gibson Brothers band, during which he won awards, 3 solo recordings and a professorship at Berklee. Grant Gordy stands out in a crowded Acoustic Guitar Wunderkinds field. Grant’s work was quickly recognized for its kaleidoscopic perfection and surprising emotion, combining the concepts of jazz, R&B and bluegrass in an unprecedented way. The group has recently been joined by outstanding bassist Aidan O’Donnell, a jazz veteran from Brooklyn, New York (Scotland, by the way). Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved and renowned melodies in the Western world. Mr. Sun used the inspiration of Duke Ellington’s brilliant, cunning and urban reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Suite as an opportunity to pay homage and reinvent this incredibly multi-faceted work through the lens of the American String Band, a musical form that now encompasses countless styles and is currently engaged in a marathon innovation and expansion shocks. The project was generously funded by the Freshgrass Foundation.