Sean Hoffman…fiddle, vocals

Lukas Simpson…guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, vocals

Brian Cook…bass, vocals

Jay Lapp…mandolin, guitar, baritone guitar, vocals

Biography

Goldmine Pickers is a young, passionate, four-piece band weaving together roots and inspiration in bluegrass, jazz, folk and Irish traditions to create an energetic new space in Americana music. With memorable acoustic performances, the group has magnetized audiences in intimate to expansive concert halls, at festivals and on live radio shows with inspiring interplay between guitar, mandolin, upright bass and a fiery fiddler and soaring, heartfelt harmonies. Lead vocals are shared smoothly between Lukas Simpson (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica) and Jay Lapp (mandolin, guitar), with contributions by Sean Hoffamn (fiddle) — they “capture the audience” with “really nice, tight three-part harmonies,” described a reviewer at acousticguitar.com, who also said, “I was virtually stunned at the quality of play at the concert. [And] chemistry and stage presence weighed very nearly as much as musicianship in reasons for enjoying the concert.” NEW RELEASE “Lonesome Gone” (2007) is available now and will be on the road with the Pickers in the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2008. As Cary Allen Fields puts it - “Goldmine Pickers are the featured “Band Of The Month” on the Fields of Bluegrass Radio Hour for November, that new CD has me tempted to award “Band of the Year” honors! Pure and unpretentious, anything but over-produced, and technically brilliant. The understated approach applied through out, places the emphasis squarely on the melody. “Lonesome Gone” is a deconstructionist masterpiece that explores the very essence of twenty-first century traditional song.” “Seven Days” of Burlington, Vt., described the fiddle playing of Sean Hoffman as the “secret weapon” of the band, who “light[s] up the proceedings like a Roman candle.” With a “penchant for hooks, melodies and dynamic soloing,”the band also shines on its slower numbers highlighting emotional songwriting skill well beyond that of your average barnstormers,” the reviewer noted. While focusing mainly on their own music, the ensemble collaboratively arranges traditional bluegrass and old-time and Irish fiddle tunes. The band has charmed audiences during tours in 2003-2007 through Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Vermont and in Washington D.C., Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. Enthusiastically received as the opening band for a sold-out concert by the Del McCoury Band at northern Indiana’s increasingly prestiguous Performing Arts Series, Goldmine Pickers has also performed alongside Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Angela Desveaux, Pierce Pettis, The Emory Lester Set and Wayne Hancock. In late 2005 the band was contacted about using their song “Conversation’s Free” to be used in a Nissan commercial to advertise the new Nissan “Note”. While you won’t see the Ad in the States, the video is now available for viewing at www.myspace.com/goldminepickers Nat Keefe of Hot Buttered Rum String Band said, “From the first notes I heard, I was impressed with Goldmine Pickers. Solid vocals, good picking, tasty repertoire … it all mixes to be a pleasing, hearty stew. In the shows we did with them, I witnessed them take a room of people who had never seen them and turn them into fans. I am looking forward to seeing these guys with us on the festival circuit this summer.” Songs from Goldmine Pickers’s independently produced self-titled debut album, released in July 2004, were played by Americana reporting stations across the country, from Texas to South Carolina, New York to Montana. Said Mike Petkau of Head in the Sand Records, “These guys aren’t relying solely on the music’s past, but with innovative melodies and creative harmonies are show where the genre could go.” Goldmine Pickers have performed at numerous festivals including the Chicago Country Music Festival, Hookaville Muisc Festival, Appalachian Uprising, Niles Bluegrass Festival, Beaver Island and Nelson Ledges Quarry Park.

Discography “Lonesome Gone” (Self-released, 2007) “Goldmine Pickers” (Self-released, 2004)