Biography

Following two acclaimed albums for Mountain Home Music Company, innovative banjo player, singer and songwriter Gina Furtado continues to break new ground with bold and original musical statements, beginning with her latest single. Produced by fellow Mountain Home artist Thomm Jutz, it’s the first to feature her touring band.

Titled “The Things I Saw,” the new offering is a unique blend of driving contemporary bluegrass and acoustic pop influences, and of personal memories with a universal spirit, exemplifying the evolution of today’s acoustic music scene through Furtado’s fresh, distinctive approach.

The song describes a personal, literal journey to a sacred and well-loved place in order to seek — and find — solace and redemption from a hectic world. "The Things I Saw’ was inspired by my experiences growing up on the Shenandoah River,” Furtado says. “All throughout my childhood, I went to the river when I needed comfort of any kind. No matter what happened in my life, good or bad, the river was always the same. The plants and critters and smells and sounds became like old friends; always welcoming and beautiful in every way, and always more powerful than whatever it was that could possibly bring me down.”

“I imagined a secret society whose mission was to fight Hatred with Love,” she continues. “I've taken that little vision into my adult life, and enjoy trying to spot members of this secret society (and trying to be one myself!)....they can be flowers, animals, sunsets, people you pass on the street...anyone or thing who refuses to let darkness and negativity take over and instead chooses to exude pure and unstoppable love.”

With Furtado’s sister, Malia, on violin, guitarist Drew Matulich on guitar and bassist Max Johnson making up the band on “The Things I Saw,” the music is polished and kaleidoscopic, reflecting what the best young players can achieve — seamless, punchy and distinctly, yet tastefully, virtuosic.