Biography

Release date: September 10, 2021

Brad Kolodner’s debut solo album Chimney Swifts proves that traditionally-rooted banjo music is alive, well, and on the move. After years of recording in a duo with his father Ken and with progressive roots supergroup Charm City Junction, Kolodner has assembled a powerful debut of instrumental clawhammer banjo music. Honed during solo practice time during the pandemic, Chimney Swifts focuses on what he calls “private music.” This is what musicians play when they first pick up their instruments, it’s familiar and evokes time and place. The record’s fifteen tracks feature solo pieces as well as duets with Kolodner’s frequent collaborators like his father Ken Kolodner, Rachel Eddy, and the members of Charm City Junction. Kolodner showcases deft original tunes, both jaunty and plaintive, alongside traditional music spanning old-time, Irish, bluegrass and even a Greek number. A handful of pieces feature the haunting tone of fretless gourd banjo. Clawhammer banjo is frequently used as accompaniment to fiddle music and songs but rarely as a lead voice. One of the most daring achievements of Chimney Swifts is to highlight clawhammer banjo as a central melodic voice. With this record, Kolodner positions himself besides other contemporary banjo luminaries like Jason Romero, Allison de Groot, Jake Blount, and Nora Brown.

Brad Kolodner: Clawhammer Banjo, Gourd Banjo
Ken Kolodner: Hammered Dulcimer
Rachel Eddy: Guitar
Patrick McAvinue: Mandolin
Sean McComiskey: Button Accordion
Lucas Chohany: Guitar
 
For more info, booking and press inquiries, contact Brad Kolodner
bradkolodner@gmail.com
410-404-9270

Brad Kolodner wears multiple hats as a banjo player and educator, radio broadcaster, festival organizer, and roots music community leader in his native Baltimore. A three-time IBMA Broadcaster of the Year nominee, Brad hosts folk and bluegrass radio shows on Folk Alley, Bluegrass Country Radio and Radio Bristol. He is the co-founder of the Baltimore Old Time Music Festival, Baltimore Square Dance and Baltimore Old Time Jam. But deep down, he's a banjo player at heart. A four-time finalist in the banjo contest at Clifftop, Brad is one of the foremost clawhammer banjo players on the scene today amongst a wave of innovative musicians charting new territory in Old-Time and roots music. He tours with the folk-fusion quartet Charm City Junction and as a duo with his father Ken Kolodner, a renowned hammered dulcimer player.

www.bradkolodner.com