Cottonwood Jam String Band

8/22/2013
Cottonwood Jam String Band of, from left, Spencer Cunningham, Renata Burgett, Tahree Lane, and Marti Clayton.
Cottonwood Jam String Band of, from left, Spencer Cunningham, Renata Burgett, Tahree Lane, and Marti Clayton.

Lineup: Spencer Cunningham strums and picks banjos, guitar, and mandolin; Renata Burgett churns out barn burners and sweet waltzes on her fiddle, Tahree Lane pizzicatos her beat-up bass, and Marti Clayton handles rhythm guitar. All pitch in on vocals, harmonies, and banjo jokes.

Year formed: 2008.

Style of music: Bluegrass, old-time, Irish, folk, country and cowboy, 19th century, a dash of blues, a pinch of Cajun, and even a Dean Martin song. We're a democracy so we play whatever one of us brings to practice or learns at a festival.

Influences: The American song book. Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Freight Hoppers, Alison Krauss, Natalie MacMaster, Woody Guthrie, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

Favorite local venues: Outdoor summer concerts, private parties/weddings, contra dances, Toledo Farmers' Market.

Upcoming gigs: Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m., Military Ball at the Civil War Encampment at the Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont. And 7 p.m. Oct 12, contra dance at Rossford United Methodist Church.

Web site: cottonwood.jam.string.band.googlepages.com; e-mail: cottonwood.jam.string.band@gmail.com