If your musical vocabulary is extensive, you know the the Gullah/Geechee tradition, descendents of enslaved Africans brought to the New World to work the plantations of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. Because they now reside on the barrier islands, Gullah/Geechee people have retained many aspects of their  heritage intact. New York City’s Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches are likely the only band today infusing elements of Gullah-Geechee and world rhythms with folk traditions, Americana, New Orleans influences, and 1920s jazz. Their forthcoming album, Get Us Out Of Fearland, builds upon the multicultural exuberance that made the band’s debut, Very Next Thing, a breath of fresh air.

Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches’ members are as varied as the music they play. Nick Russo (banjo, resonator, guitar, electric bass plus organ, Rhodes and harmonium) played with sir Paul McCartney at Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s home, performed on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and appears in the film Away We Go and The Chaperone. Betina Hershey (vocalist, guitarist, composer) has appeared as a principal dancer in Disney’s Enchanted and Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts, and performed in Broadway shows including “West Side Story” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

Betina’s in-demand original children’s musicals have been continuously performed nationally and internationally. Emiliano Valerio (cajón/percussion) studied Afro-Cuban percussion at La Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, founded 15-piece Latin band, and was musical director/percussionist/guitarist for the OBIE Award winning Off-Broadway show Tap Dogs. Joining the core trio on Get Us Out Of Fearland, Dr. David Pleasant (Gullah-Geechee percussionist and composer) has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Cecil Taylor, and on Nickelodeon and TED talks. Miles Griffith (voice and composer) uses his voice as a percussive instrument, has performed with Max Roach and T.S. Monk, and others played the lead role in Wynton Marsalis’ jazz oratorio ”Blood On The Fields,” which premiered at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

It is fitting that such diverse talents can bring together diverse traditions to create something so new and exciting. BN&WS co-founder Nick Russo told Elmore “My musical life has always been surrounded by an eclectic combination of unique musicians and scenes, so naturally, this band is a melting pot. Inspired by the current social, political environment and world rhythms of the indigenous, Get Us Out Of Fearland gives hope that all of us join together as sisters and brothers and truly unify as Peaceland.”

To learn more about Banjo Nicaru & Western Scooches, click HERE

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