For decades now, Colorado has been a wellspring for American roots music, combining the traditional Appalachian old-time and honky-tonk strains of the East with the spirit of adventure and openness of the West.  Colorado has served as a magnet for musicians looking to find themselves, and it’s become a place for musical kindred spirits to commune and create.  FY5 –Finnders & Youngberg– represent this pioneering spirit, and with their latest effort, Eat the Moon, we can hear a newfound maturity and purpose that comes with steady gigging, dedication, and a renewed sense of purpose.  Bluegrass harmonies, crisp as a mountain stream, meld with virtuosic picking and fiddling and the kind of honest acknowledgment of the tough realities of life that’s best found in traditional honky-tonk.  “We’re proud to have come from the traditional folk and bluegrass school,” says bandleader Mike Finders, “yet we put all that aside and do our best to build the songs honestly, creatively, with no predetermined agenda to play this or that kind of music.”  With Eat the Moon, FY5 brings us a self-assured vision of American music, rooted in tradition, but pointing to new creative directions that make it vital and relevant in today’s modern world.

Finnders & Youngberg will play the 2016 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival on Saturday August 6.