Type of Music: Traditional Bluegrass Music
When Was the Band Founded? The first time we got together was just over a year ago and the result sounded like angels singing (which we liked). We vowed to recreate as much as possible, and it’s only gotten better since then.
Names and Instruments: Patrick Connell, guitar & vocals; Thad Jacobson, banjo & vocals; Phil Johnson, mandolin & vocals; Peter Koelsch, upright bass & vocals
Occupation: We would love to say that our occupation is musicians, but it’s more of a full time hobby before and after going to work. Patrick, Thad and Phil work at the Ashland Food Co-op, and Peter is a senior at SOU and a journalist for various local papers.
Tallest & Shortest Musician: Thad is the tallest and Patrick is the
shortest. Phil and Peter are in the middle, although, Peter’s instrument is the tallest and Phil’s is the shortest; Thad and Patrick’s are in the middle.
Where did you guys meet? Patrick, Thad and Phil met in the coal mines at the Ashland Food Co-op, and Peters’ sweet angelic voice called us from upon high. It was manifest destiny.
How long have you been together? 1 year
Show Calendar: After the holiday and New Years break, our next gig is January 17th at Alex’s in Ashland. We are also booked for the Siskiyou Bluegrass Festival in July at Lake Selmac, a beautiful venue. Aside from that there will be many more shows in between. Check the LocalsGuide for updated show listings, as well as www.myspace.com/themightylonesomes
Favorite Musicians / Inspirations: Our goal is to recreate bluegrass music as close to the original style of Bill
Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys of the 1940s. Almost any band that has done this is an inspiration to us. We love tight instrumentation and sweet 2, 3 and 4-part harmony singing. Some of our bluegrass heroes aside from Bill Monroe include Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, The Osborne Brothers, The Stanley Brothers, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, JD Crowe, Tony Rice and The Del McCoury Band–just to name a few.
Albums and Songs: We have a demo CD titled “Choice Cuts” that we recorded last summer. A few hundred copies are floating around Ashland, in and out of CD players. These songs can also be heard on our LocalsGuide website! We are currently in the creative stages for the next round of songs to put out onto CD, and very soon some of these will also be on our LocalsGuide profile. Stop by and listen! Our live shows feature traditional bluegrass songs, (some well known and others more obscure) as well as half a dozen (and counting) original compositions written in the traditional style which audiences know and love, and call for by name.
Shout out to the community: Shout outs to the Ashland Food Co-op for keeping us fed and employed, Cripple Creek Music for keeping Ashland picking, Andrea Johnson (Phil’s wife) for being our number one fan and helper and everyone who has come out to support us in the past yea–as well as those who will support us in the years to come.
Dream Come True: The Mighty Lonesomes are a dream come true for all of us.
Best Show: Our best show was definitely at the John Muir School, playing for all of the students in December. Children are the future, and a very respectful and attentive audience! We can’t wait to do it again.
Worst Show: It involved too many microphones and speakers in a tiny concrete room with too many people inside. I think that’s why they decided to close the Jefferson State Pub. It’s all our fault, but we don’t like to talk about it. =)
Most fun you ever had during a show: Aside from the above mentioned John Muir School; playing at the Siskiyou Bluegrass Festival at Lake Selmac last July was a lot of fun. Apparently they liked it too because they asked us back for next year!
Favorite Local Place to Play: Any time we play is extremely enjoyable, and I guess you could say that’s why we keep playing and practice so much. It might just be that practicing in someone’s house might be the most enjoyable because there’s no one else listening, and no pressure, so it seems like the best things
come out then. When we play in public it seems like we just try to make it sound as good as it did in practice. Playing in Lithia Park in the summer time is hard to beat. But really any time we play is great, and seeing other people enjoying–and especially dancing to–music that you are creating always brings a smile to our faces.
Other Favorite Local Bands: Any and everyone creating music and putting their soul into it is awesome and we support it 100%! A few bands we know of in the Valley are Hearts & Stars, Dee Dee and Jeremy and the Rosehip Ramblers, but we spend most of our time playing so we don’t have much time to go check out all the other amazing artists in the area. There are a lot of creative minded
people who need local support, and we encourage everyone to support live music in Ashland!
Anything else you want do with your local fame and fortune: We just want to spread the bluegrass gospel around the world. Our ultimate goal is to play at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Oh, and play in Japan, and maybe someday be able to afford nicer instruments. We’re simple guys who just love music and that’s why we do it.
