Look out, here comes BUDS & SHOOTS. You’ll get walloped by their joyful straight-from-the-heart sound,
their soaring interpretations of old-time string band tunes tinged with Vaudevillian novelty, flanked by snappy honky tonk hits, sweet originals, and
four-part powerhouse vocals that can shake the earth beneath your feet.
BUDS & SHOOTS are: “Folk Festival in a Box” Barb Silverman on solid rhythm guitar, washboard, bones and feet;
Jess McIntosh’s fire-to-silk fiddle; “Folk and Country Buddha" Steve Rosen’s driving banjo and sweet mando; Aaron Smith’s impeccable plucked and bowed bass.
Collectively these four have performed on national radio, festival and club stages throughout the Midwest, across the country and as far as Europe and Australia.
Photo Gallery
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Band Bios
Barbara Silverman: Acclaimed as a “stunning vocalist, master teacher, and folk festival in a box,” Barbara Silverman has performed on national radio, Midwest festivals and concert halls for four decades on rhythm guitar, vocals, piano, washboard, bones and feet. Her many bands The Laketown Buskers, The Teflons, The Schticklers (2010 Jugband Champions), Silver Rose, and The Mama-Vat’s-Nu Orchestra collectively have appeared on Prairie Home Companion, Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago Symphony Center, openers for Emmy Lou Harris, David Bromberg, Odetta, Arlo Guthrie, and on six CD recordings. A three-department faculty member of the Old Town School of Folk Music, Barb joined their first international trip to England and Finland, and teaches dance and music workshops across the region.
Jess McIntosh: Jess is a Chicago-based fiddler, songwriter, visual artist and arts educator. She teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music, writes and performs original music with her songwriting project Joybird, fiddles and sings with various traditional and country bands (Horseshoe Bender, Glass Mountain, Big Sadie, and more), and tours nationally and internationally with Bloodshot Records recording artist Al Scorch.
Steve Rosen: Steve’s banjo, mandolin and fiddle bridge old time string band, country-western, and bluegrass with the legendary Volo Bogtrotters, the Whiskey Hollow Bluegrass Band and the Chicago Barn Dance Company. He has opened for Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs among others, has played and taught in the USA and abroad, and is one of the most sought-after barn dance musicians in the region. Steve has been a faculty member of the world-famous Old Town School of Folk Music for nearly thirty years.
Aaron Smith: Since moving to Chicago in 2014, Aaron Smith has become a member of the thriving scene that surrounds the city’s Old Town School of Folk Music. He is a full-time bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer, a contributor with numerous projects including Jaybird, Growler, Sunnyside Up, and Horseshoe Bender, and has shared the stage with touring acts like The Henhouse Prowlers, Oh Pep!, Tall Heights, Jim Becker, and more.
