Wes Urbaniak & the Mountain Folk

Friday, Feb 11th
7-9:30PM

SUGGESTED DONATION $10+

Beer. Wine.

This all-original trio comes out of the Billings, MT area, playing mountain folk music: folk roots written about traveling on the metaphorical mountains of life. This genre is full of hard stops, absolute dynamics, and mauling measures of lyrical flow. Urbaniak has been a songwriter and musician for a bucket of years. Together with the harmonies of Mat Regele (upright bass) and A.J. Sheble (ukulele), Urbaniak’s guitar and vocal pulls the audience through a story; at times along the lyrics of a life lived and lessons learned, other times with the intricate and speedy guitar playing, and definitely during the times that the beat picks up to a bluegrass and rollicking rise.

Along with the signature musical style, another aspect of the band belongs with the instruments that the guys play. They were designed and built by Urbaniak – a luthier when he is not performing. His instruments are built on the premise of reusing and conserving wood, and making the imperfect, perfect. Sources of wood come from old schoolhouses, mills, pianos, locally-felled trees that people donate, and scrap pieces set aside at wood stores. They highlight the beautiful flaws of knots and irregular growth. Playing the same notes as traditional instruments, they wear fantastically different clothes and allude to having a deeper sense of spirit.