What if you could combine the instrumental artistry and youthful vigor of the Punch Brothers, Crooked Still and the Dave Rawlings Machine?  Turns out it would sound like Hawktail, the acoustic instrumental supergroup featuring four of the most influential and talented musicians in bluegrass and roots music today.  Brittany Haas (fiddle), Jordan Tice (guitar), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), and Madison native Paul Kowert (bass) have established knockout reputations as bandmates, collaborators, songwriters and and performers in the uppermost echelons of the acoustic music world.

The previous version of the band, Haas Kowert Tice, became Hawktail with the addition of mandolin virtuoso Leslie late last year, and their first album as a quartet, this year’s Unless, is already receiving rave reviews.  Read more at No Depression, The Journal of Roots Music. You will be hearing about this band and these musicians for years to come—and one of their first stops will be at the Sugar Maple festival this year!

–written by Brad Wolbert