The bee eaters

Brother-sister duo Tristan and Tashina Clarridge (Crooked Still, Darol Anger, Grand National Fiddle Championships), are joined by hammer dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman. Together, they weave a tapestry of sound all their own, drawing on roots in bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, Baroque, and old-time folk music traditions.

“I believe every sound you listen to informs your ears, and therefore your musical perspective. We grew up hearing the sounds of nature, rather than the sounds of cities,” says Bee Eaters co-founder Tristan Clarridge. Perhaps it was their free lifestyle growing up in a tipi on the side of a mountain in a remote part of Northern California that influenced their musically explorative sound. Or the fact that Tristan and fellow co-founder and sister, Tashina, never went to a day of traditional school but began music lessons at age two, sometimes driving thousands of miles for music camps and lessons and spending much of their time exploring and learning on three week backpacking trips.

Brother-sister duo Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, long known and lauded by those steeped in the American fiddle tradition, are joined by hammer dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman. Together, they weave a tapestry of sound all their own, drawing on roots in bluegrass, Celtic, jazz and old-time traditions. While today’s new breed often produces an amalgamation of sounds and styles based on a distant view, The Bee Eaters were raised embedded in these traditions… raised to mold, meld, shape them and carry them forward, leaving their own indelible marks in the process. With Tashina’s delicate fiddle and Tristan’s grounding cello wrapped around Simon’s ethereal dulcimer, they have created a never-before-heard sound in American music. No tricks. No pyrotechnics. Three instrumental voices, united in their musical exploration.

Grand National Fiddle Champion Tashina Clarridge has toured with Mark O’Connor, Tony Trischka and Laurie Lewis and has performed at Carnegie Hall as a part of MacArthur Fellow/Grammy-winning bassist Edgar Meyer’s Young Artists program. Multi-instrumentalist brother Tristan is a 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with rhythmic vocabulary from jazz, rock and pop music, and leading a revolution among adventurous young cellists throughout the country. He has toured the world with bluegrass/nu-folk sensation Crooked Still and Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, as well as Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky and Cape Breton fiddle phenomenon Natalie MacMaster. Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings a whole new approach to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique. His inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world.

Since their formation in 2008, The Bee Eaters have been on a trajectory of growth, both personal and musical. They have collaborated with Sean Watkins (GRAMMY winning guitarist/songwriter of Nickel Creek), bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis, Appalachian music master Bruce Molsky, singer Aoife O’Donovan (of Crooked Still renown), and dozens of others. Festival highlights include Wintergrass, and the 40th annual Indiana Fiddlers Gathering.

The Bee Eaters have collectively taught hundreds of lessons and workshops in communities, schools, and colleges such as the Berklee College of Music, the University of Victoria, Humboldt State University, and many others. Tashina and Tristan co-founded the Shasta Music Summit, now in its 15th year, which unites the highest level of musical masterminds with musicians of all ages and skill levels, for a series of workshops and all-star concerts exploring the connections between musical traditions of the world, in a holistic community environment. The Shasta Music Summit is revered by many as a powerful musical and social melting pot; young students and professional musicians come together to share, driven by a bold vision of strengthening the interwoven connectedness of music, community, and culture.

Listening to the Bee Eaters is like eavesdropping on a spirited, private conversation. As wonderful as their recorded music is, watching The Bee Eaters in live performance is an exercise in safe danger. They parry and thrust, challenging each other at every moment. Their focus on their music and on each other is tight and complete. Their melodic lines and rhythmic phrases dance (and sometimes roil) over, under and around each other. There is sometimes dissonance but always an ultimate harmony.

 Perhaps Tony Trischka said it best: “Their impressive ensemble work… leaves me breathless. Their music excites, heals and enriches.  Listen often.”

Yes, listen often.

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