Three-time Ohio State Fiddle Champ Adam Jackson and his band, The Back Porch Swing Band, will bring together the sounds of country, jazz and swing tomorrow at Casa Cantina.
We always play kind of a cross-genre
said guitar player Pete Shew of McConnelsville, the founder of the band.
Shew brought the band together from all over Ohio. Jackson, of Buckeye Lake, was his next-door neighbor as a child.
He used to play in fiddle contests and I would back him up on guitar Shew said.
Most of the band members are long-time musicians.
I'm 60 now
and I have been playing music since I was in college
18
and I always like to play music
Shew said.
Lead vocalist Kris Geis, of Zanesville, is a 1993 Ohio University graduate and has been singing since her days in a band here in Athens.
I am always looking for a reason to sing
Geis said.
Other members of the band include Andy Merritt of Columbus on the mandolin and Dave Irwin of Newark on the bass.
One of the band's major influences is Bob Wills, the father of Western swing
and the group performs some of his material live, such as San Antonio Rose.
The variety of the band's sound allows it to play at a number of different places, such as at the Malabar Farm barn and at Civil War balls around the state.
It is traditional to have a ball after reenactments where the North and the South come
Jackson said. The ladies will come in big dresses
and it is really neat to see.
Geis said her experience in the band has been a good one.
We just love to play and go wherever we can get gigs
