Trampled by Turtles, or TBT, is an indie folk band from Duluth Minnesota, composed of Dave Simonett on guitar, Tim Saxhaug on bass, Dave Carroll on banjo, Erik Berry on mandolin and Ryan Young on fiddle. (Yeah, I know…you’re already having fun and you haven’t even heard them yet.)
The group hit it big with their first studio release in 2004, but their fifth album, Palomino, has remained on the Billboard Top 10 bluegrass charts for the past year.
They’re also pretty popular on the festi circuit.
The band has performed at Coachella, Stagecoach, Bumbershoot and Pickathon. They’ve performed at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Newport Folk Festival and ROMP Roots and Branches. In addition to Bonnaroo, they are scheduled to play the Sasquatch Festival, Lollapalooza, Firefly Festival, Rock the Garden, All Good and Newport Folk.
Trampled by Turtles is simply good bluegrass. I hadn’t heard a thing about them until they were added to the Bonnaroo lineup, but my Virginia friends seem to have gotten behind them in last couple of months. (Or maybe they always were, and I just didn’t notice until I started listening myself.)
Either way — the band is all about quick pickin’ and easy strummin’. Although I admire their slower songs, the quick ones really get my heart racing. I was listening to them on my bike ride home from work today, and I’m pretty sure I made record time. Check them out below.
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As much as I want to see Trampled By Turtles, they’re playing at 5:45 p.m. on Friday — putting them against The Avett Brothers and Aziz Ansari. Since I love The Avett Brothers — and since Aziz is the only comedian that Addam and I are interested in seeing this year — it’s going to be a tough call. We could end up anywhere, so I guess we’ll see where Roo takes us.
Discography:
- Songs from a Ghost Town (2004)
- Blue Sky and the Devil (2005)
- Trouble (2007)
- Duluth (2008)
- Palomino (2010)
- Stars and Satellites (2012)
Sounds Like:
Songs to Listen For:
Times at Roo: 0
Times I’ve Seen Them: 0
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“Grown from a moment and a million miles/Here lies the stardust and it slowly dies/Borrowed from nothing come back half alive/And the stars the whisper blessings as you walk by.” — Trampled by Turtles, Victory, Palomino (2010).
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