LOOSE TIES
- From Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- Formed in 1985 by Phil Round (guitar/bass), Ben Winship (mandolin) and Ted Wells (banjo). They previously performed together in a Vermont-based group called The Homegrown Revue.
- Avid skiers, they moved to Jackson Hole to work in ski resorts.
- 1986, won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band championship.
- 1987, won second in the Kentucky Fried Chicken “Best New Bluegrass Bands” contest in Louisville. First place was won by Alison Krauss and Union Station.
- 1988, recorded a classic Christmas album called Yule Ties
(Snake River).
- 1991, released “Up & Down the Highway” album (Snake River).
- 1994, released “Tangled Roots” album (Blue Planet).
- Name origin: “We are loosely tied to traditional bluegrass.”
- Original guitarist Joel Kaserman is from Australia. Rex Flinner (brother of Matt Flinner) also played guitar.
- Banjo player Ted Wells has the distinction of being the first and only graduate of St. Lawrence University with a banjo degree.
- 1994, John Lowell (Kane’s River) joined the band to play guitar.
- September, 1996, played last concert.
- Mandolinist Ben Winship went on to work with the Judith Edelman Band and Kane’s River.
- 2008, the band reunited for a sold out show at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts.
- 2009, founding member Phil Round formed the Snake River Band.