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About:

Slant 6 is a four piece bluegrass band with Matt Shipman mandolin, Read McNamara on banjo, Mike Arciero on guitar and Amanda Kowalski on bass. Although Slant 6 Bluegrass is a relatively new band, each musician involved bring years of experience and a love for that old bluegrass sound with a young new energy. Knowing each other from being friends in the Portland, ME area music scene, the band formed in the winter of 2006 simply out of a desire to play some good quality bluegrass together. With some members more recently coming from different musical backgrounds ranging from gypsy jazz to folk the band had a desire to get back to the roots of what they really loved, bluegrass. From traditional songs and tunes to driving trad sounding originals and solid vocals, the band plays with an infectious energy that audiences love. The band really enjoys playing music together and it shows through the energy and how much fun they and the audience have. They are all accomplished musicians, contest winners and teachers on their own and it brings an exciting new level to the music.  Most of all they have a good time pickin’ and singin’ together! Here’s more about the band’s members   

The Band    

Matt Shipman- mandolin, guitar, vocals

Matt Shipman currently of Portland, ME is a singer/songwriter as well and has been playing guitar, mandolin, and banjo for over a decade. He has been touring locally and beyond for a 6 years now from Maine to Wyoming to Tennessee. His new CD Highway Shoes was just released this August and is has received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Folks from the Portsmouth area joined him on the recording such as members of the Mill City Ramblers, High Range, as well as Roger Williams, Joyce Andersen, Jon Nolan and more. This young musician displays his love of old music through his songwriting and through the traditional hard driving bluegrass he plays on his custom Neal Dean mandolin. He graduated in 2003 from Vermont College with a major in traditional music studies where he made an audio documentary about traditional music while traveling through North Carolina, Nova Scotia and Maine. After living in downeast Maine for many years he moved to the Portland area where he now enjoys the vibrant music scene. These days you can hear him solo, with Splittin’ Hairs a fiddle and guitar duo with Melissa Bragdon, or with High Range, around NH, Maine and beyond. He also teaches music lessons at 317 Main St. Community Music School in Yarmouth. Matt enjoys the outdoors and traveling to remote parts of Maine.

Read McNamara - banjo

For the past decade, Read McNamara has been picking, plucking, and thumping his way across American behind his 1934 retro-fitted Gibson 5 string banjo. Starting out with his college buddies, Read's group, Colonel Catastrophe &his Loaded Shotgun, spent 4 years immersing themselves in all things bluegrass.  Upon graduation with diplomas in hand, the group moved to rural Virginia and began touring full time playing nearly every bar, honky-tonk, and nightclub from Chicago, to Florida, to New York.  Shortly before their debut at the legendary Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York, Read split with the band which would later change its name to King Wilkie and go on to critical acclaim, and took a spot playing with SPGMA Midwest Entertainer of the Year Charlie Lawson and Oak Hill.  Read spent 2 years on the road with Charlie playing festivals across the Midwest and honing his Scruggs style chops.  While living in Indiana, Read met his future wife who lured him to the wilds of Maine where he lives today with his wife and son.  In addition to playing banjo, Read enjoys cooking, keeping up to date on all things environmental, and playing outside with his wife and son.

Amanda Kowalski - upright bass

Twenty-three-year-old bassist Amanda Kowalski is a charismatic performer and talented musician not to mention a great gal. Although Kowalski now makes her home in Portland, ME, she is a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, where she began studying bass performance at age nine. With a musical background ranging from bluegrass and contemporary folk to classical music she has performed with a number of versatile acts. Most recently Amanda has worked with such talents as Adrienne Young, Keith Little and Patty Mitchell, the Roland White Band, Uncle Earl, April Verch and Abigail Washburn. Amanda enjoys taking photographs, which she is currently studying at the Salt Institute in Portland, riding her blue bike, and spending time with her cat Sophia.

Mike Arciero- guitar, vocals

A guitarist Relix magazine has called “versatile and accomplished”, Mike Arciero has played folk, rock and roll, country, and jazz styles for over 20 years both as a solo performer and in ensemble settings. Initially influenced by players such as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Jerry Garcia, Mike was exposed to bluegrass through the playing of Clarence White and Tony Rice. His playing continues to be infused with influences from a diverse palette, including Latin and swing styles. As a member of the Street Corner Healers, Mike performed on a song in the 2005 movie ``Miss Congeniality II”, which starred Sandra Bullock. Mike has lived in southern Maine since 2004.