Ken & Brad Kolodner

About the Artist

  The dynamic father-son team Ken & Brad Kolodner weave together a captivating soundscape on hammered dulcimer and clawhammer banjo blurring the lines of Old-Time, Bluegrass and American Roots music. Regarded as one of the most influential hammered dulcimer players in North America, Baltimore’s Ken Kolodner joined forces in 2009 with his son Brad Kolodner, a renowned clawhammer banjo player. They've sculpted their own brand of driving, innovative, tasteful acoustic roots music with a “creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation.” The hypnotizing groove of the percussive hammered dulcimer and rhythmic clawhammer banjo is the core of their sound. They are joined by bassist Alex Lacquement who locks everything together with his commanding presence and the dynamic multi-instrumentalist Rachel Eddy on fiddle and guitar. The quartet won 1st place in the Neo-Traditional Band Contest at the Appalachian Stringband Festival in the summer of 2019. They released their fourth studio album Stony Run in March 2020. “Ken and Brad transport the listener to a distant, dusty crossroads across the sea making ancient music that touches a place inside of us that some of us didn’t even know was there.” “…oozing with variety. From trad standards to new classic folk songs to lush originals, the repertory found here is both dependable and enjoyable. The arrangements include barn-burning twin-fiddle ragers, mellow meditations on hammered dulcimer, and bluegrass settings with solos on the breaks and three-part harmony vocals.”   Ken’s musical journey began in the 1980’s when he taught himself to play the fiddle. The hammered dulcimer followed shortly thereafter. He is a founding member of the world folk music trio Helicon with Chris Norman and Robin Bullock. Born in 1990, Brad grew up around his father’s music. It was only a matter of time before he picked up an instrument. In the summer of 2007, Brad took an introductory banjo class at a music camp in Maine. He was instantly hooked. Ken & Brad initially expected they would focus primarily on the fiddle and banjo combination, the classic pairing in Old-Time music. They experimented with the hammered dulcimer and banjo pairing and recognized they were on the edge of a musical breakthrough. Ken & Brad are locked in from the second the mallet hits and the nail strikes the strings. They have a creative bond and danceable groove that is unmistakable.