Spring 2024 Updates

New Low End on the Beat: Welcoming Alex Read to The Badly Bent!

We're excited to announce a new addition to The Badly Bent family! Please give a warm welcome to our new bass player, Alex Read.

Alex isn't just any bassist; he brings a wealth of talent and experience to the band. Originally from Durango, Colorado, Alex is a seasoned musician who plays in several bands, bringing a dynamic and versatile approach to the low end. You can find Alex working his magic as a luthier at Jimmy's Music, keeping the instruments of our fair city sounding their best.

We can't wait for you to hear Alex live! We've got a busy summer of gigs lined up, and Alex will be there for every note. To see our upcoming shows and catch Alex in action, head over to our website at www.thebadlybent.com.

We have been woodshedding, learning some new tunes and reviving some of the old ones. We’re excited about performing in Bayfield at the Performing Arts Center as part of the Durango Meltdown’s Bluegrass in the Schools program and, of course, it’s Durango Bluegrass Meltdown Season! See you there

Q4 2023 Update

I haven’t done a great job of keeping this up to date - sorry. We have been busy as a band and individually. 2023 has been a great year for the band. We’ve played multiple festivals, parties, events, and just some all around fun get togethers.

Cindi officially moved to the Front Range and the band is now performing as a four piece with Patrick, Joel, and Mark and Brian Aherne on bass.

The year is winding down and we are going into woodshed mode. I (Mark) will spend the majority of the winter in warmer climate, traveling to Durango regularly for band rehearsal and general Colorado reconnection. We are starting to book for 2024.

Coming up is a highlight gig for us. We’ve been invited to participate in the Acoustic America exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. The MIM is the #1 attraction in Phoenix and it is one of the most amazing collections of musical instruments from around the world, from all of history. The museum is a not-to-be missed attraction if you make it to Phoenix. We will be performing in the MIM’s entrance courtyard Saturday, Nov 11 and Sunday, Nov 12, from 1:15 to 2:00 each day. If you are in Phoenix, stop by and see us. Truly an honor to be included as part of this event.

More information can be found at: Acoustic America

Brief Update

We're so excited to kick off 2023 in February with a mini tour to Arizona! We'll be playing some private events and will be making an appearance at the Arizona Bluegrass Association's Bluegrass Roundup in Florence, AZ—what a perfect way to start off the year.

Our latest release, "Too Late to Care," has been met with such positive comments and airplay, and we're thrilled about it. We can't wait to show you even more music throughout 2023 as our summer schedule starts to come together. Keep an eye on our website for updates on our upcoming events!

We wish everyone the happiest of holidays, and we can't wait to see you all in 2023!

Too Late To Care - our new release!

We’re excited to announce the release of our latest CD, “Too Late To Care,” scheduled for early April in time for the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown. This project has been in the works for a long time and we’re so excited to finally see it come to being. Cindi, Joel, Guy, Patrick, and Mark have all worked really hard on this to make it a fun, enjoyable project.

Speaking of the Meltdown, get your tickets (www.durangomeltdown.com). Stellar lineup and a weekend full of great events, including a first-ever band competition. The Badly Bent’s set will be Friday night at the Durango Arts Center at 8:00 pm. Absolutely our most fun gig of the year. Rumor has it we’ll even have a special guest join us for a few songs.

Keep an eye out for the release and, as always, thanks for being supporting friends and family.

2022 is a new start

It has been 2 years since I updated the blog on this site. What a 2 years it’s been. COVID affected us way more than any of us had anticipated. Canceled gigs, couldn’t get together to practice. These were our 1st world problems but they certainly affected The Badly Bent making music.

We’ve been through a lot in the past two years. We will always be thankful to Kyle Schoonover, Brendan Shafer, and Jeff Hibshman for being a part of this band during the hard times. They’ve all moved on to new projects and homes. We wish them all well.

The newest configuration of the band is really something special. We welcome back home to the band Cindi Cone Trautmann, after a multi-year hiatus. Cindi is singing and playing fiddle. We are so happy she’s back to play with us. On bass, we have the honor of having Guy Ewing join us. Guy has been a big part of the Durango music scene for many years as a member of The Contention and, most recently, Sunny and the Whiskey Machine. Our newest member on mandolin is Joel Denman. Joel recently retired and moved to Durango from the Front Range. Mark has been playing music with Joel for over 20 years and we are thrilled to have him playing with us.

We have been in the recording studio working on a new project. We hope this project finds a spot on your playlist. It will include a number of originals as well as some covers, along with some traditional tunes you may not have heard before. Stay tuned for further details - we are looking at an April release date but, the supply chain issues may dictate the final schedule.

Our 2022 is booking quickly. Lots of private parties, several festivals, and some hometown haunts. We love playing to our local fan base and look for us to make an effort to spend more time doing that.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy and thanks again for being the reason we exist. Until later…

Back at it

It’s hard to believe that I haven’t written a blog post for such a long time. Shame on me. You all probably think we disappeared or something.

Hardly

In 2019, we reorganized the band with a couple of new and old (historic) members. We welcome Brendan Shafer on fiddle and vocals and Kyle Schoonover on dobro. Jeff Hibshman, Patrick Dressen, and Mark Epstein round out the band!

Our new lineup has given us renewed vigor and energy. We’ve expanded our repertoire to include some very traditional bluegrass and music that we Brough to the bluegrass realm from the outskirts. All in all, our music is being very well received.

We also have a bunch of new originals from Patrick and Mark.

Our next major focus, besides the gigs we have scheduled, will be a trip to the studio to record a new full length project. Be looking for that in the fall of 2020.

Come out and see us and join us as we continue on our musical journey.

Meltdown 2018

The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown happens this coming weekend, April 20-22 in Durango.  This marks the 20th anniversary of The Badly Bent performing at this amazing festival.

This year's band lineup is a bit different from what you've seen in the past.  But, we've stuck to our roots.  We are a traditional bluegrass band, playing originals and some under the radar tunes that you may or may not have heard.  We are so happy to have Kyle Schoonover join us on dobro.  Kyle's music heritage is somewhat legendary in the bluegrass world.  His father, Kent, is a renowned dobro builder.  His playing fits so well with our music.  

Our set this year will be our 'traditional' set at the Strater Theatre on Friday night at 8:00 between two of the national acts.  Absolutely one of our favorite sets of the year,, we are so grateful to the Meltdown Board of Directors for letting us perform in this coveted slot.

Come say hi after the set.  The faces might be changing but our love for traditional, hard driving bluegrass has not.  New songs, old songs, originals, covers - we bring it all.

The New Badly Bent

The band has completed its transformation with the addition of Fred Kosak on guitar and vocals and Cody Tiffin on bass and vocals.  Fred recently moved to Durango from Boston and quickly inserted himself into the Durango music scene.  He is an accomplished guitar and mandolin player, as well as singer extraordinaire.  His passion for Americana and bluegrass makes him a perfect fit to complement the band.

Cody Tiffin has been a Durango resident off and on for a long time.  He recently moved back to Durango from Austin, Texas and spends his daytime expressing his culinary talents.  Cody has been a part of several bands in Durango and I think is going to get the nickname Metronome.  

It is so awesome to have these guys join Robb, Cindi and me as we take The Badly Bent to the next level.  Our first serious public performance will most likely be the Meltdown in April.  Be prepared to be surprised.

Changes are coming

Some of you might have heard about a breakup of The Badly Bent.  Well, yes and no.  Yes, we broke up with the members you have known We will not be the same band you've been hearing for 15 years.  We are currently reforming with some new, fresh material and members.  So, no, the band has not gone away.  

We are looking forward to our new chapter.  Stay tuned.

Chance to see The Badly Bent

The Badly Bent has a couple of fun shows coming up.  First, we will be traveling to Denver's suburb, Northglenn, to participate in the 31st Annual Mid Winter Bluegrass Festival.  Thanks to Ken Seaman for having us back again.  We will be opening the festival on Friday night on the main stage.  We will have two sets on Saturday on the Acoustic Stage, which is an awesome venue.  Very intimate, no PA system, just acoustic music in a great room.  In addition, Pat will be giving a guitar workshop, Cindi a fiddle workshop, Jim a bass workshop, and Mark a banjo workshop on Saturday morning.

The following weekend, we will be having two concerts in the Four Corners.  On Friday, February 19, we will be putting on a concert at the Henry Strater Theatre (The Hank).  This has become somewhat of an annual event and has historically sold out.  This year, we will be joined by our friends from Dolores, Last Nickel.  On Saturday, February 20, we will take this two-band show to Cortez to perform at the Sunflower Theater, sponsored and promoted by local NPR station, KSJD.

Lot's more coming this summer.  Stay tuned...

The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown

It's that time of year again in Durango where almost 1000 people converge on our small town to participate in and uptake the sights and sounds of the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown.  (www.DurangoMeltdown.com)  We in Durango usually think we have 3 seasons: Summer, followed by mud season, Winter, followed by yet another mud season.  We've had a very dry winter and this year's Meltdown will occur in the middle of dust season.  If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, presales end on Thursday and prices will go up $10.  Tickets can be purchase online at www.DurangoMeltdown.com or at Animas Trading Company in Durango.

The Meltdown's lineup this year is absolutely stellar, headlined by three incredible national acts: Balsam Range, Shawn Camp, and Special Consensus,  Of course, not to be missed are the other 20+ acts that will take one of three stages over the weekend.  This is always one of our highlight gigs of the year.

The Badly Bent has the honor of playing Friday night between Special Consensus and Balsam Range at the Durango Arts Center at 8:00.  Our second set is on Saturday at the Strater at 3:00.  Thanks again to the festival schedulers for not making us play a 10:00 am Sunday set again.  Those are rough and we appreciate spreading the joy to other local bands.

The Meltdown will be the debut for our two new band members, Jim Stanley (bass) and Fred Hoeffler (mandolin).  It will be fun to have new members, new songs, and a new attitude to bring to the Meltdown.

See you this weekend.

Welcome Jim and Fred!

The Badly Bent is making yet more changes to its personnel lineup.  First, we are so happy to announce that we have a new bass player, Jim Stanley.  Jim has recently relocated to Durango from Tucson, AZ and is a very proficient multi-instrumentalist.  You may see Jim at The Derailed on Sunday nights, sitting in with the jazz jam session.   Please welcome Jim next time you see us.

Also, we are happy to announce that we will be having a mandolin player join us on an as-available basis.  Help us welcome Fred Hoeffler to TBB.  You will see Fred make his debut performance with us at the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown.  Fred is currently living in Prescott, AZ and is 'commuting' to Durango to rehearse and play with us.  I've known Fred for over 20 years, first meeting him at RockyGrass where he sat in with my former band, Fret Knot, at the RockyGrass Band Competition.  Please give Fred a warm Durango welcome when you see him in April.  And, he is actively looking for an excuse to move up here full time.

We have added a lot of new dates to our calendar, some as the trio and some as the whole band. Our summer is filling up and we're happy to be out performing actively again.

Thanks for your continued support as we journey onward and upward!

Mark

Looking forward to 2015

2015 is getting off to a great start for us.  Pat, Cindi and I have been performing as a trio under a variety of names (Dressen, Epstein, Trautmann (DET), BFG (banjo, fiddle, guitar), TBB Trio). You get the idea.

BFG will playing three dates at 6512' Lounge starting with our first on January 29th from 6 - 8 pm.

The Badly Bent is proud to be supporting the Bayfield Association for the Advancement of Music (BAAM).  We will be preforming on Friday, February 13th.  Here is the information from BAAM:

"BAAM is putting together a benefit concert featuring local bluegrass band, Badly Bent, 7:30 Friday February 13th, at the Bayfield Performing Arts Center (at BHS).  Doors open at 6:30. Tickets cost $12 per person or $20 per couple and can be purchased at The Tuning Fork, Bottom Shelf Brewery, the BHS front office, or starting next week, from your favorite band student.  

This could be a great Valentines date, plus it's local and for a good cause.  All proceeds go to the purchase of new instruments for our Bayfield music students.  Instruments cost several thousands of dollars each sometimes (tubas, bassoons, upright bass, just to name a few), which is a heavy load for the school district to handle on its own.  BAAM is trying to do our part to help offset some of those costs.  A benefit concert seemed like a fun way to do it.  We hope to see you there!"

Looking forward to seeing you all this spring!