Bawn in the Mash

Artist Information

Biography

Entering their seventh year of performing, Bawn in the Mash now offer listeners over 60 published songs with the release of their self-produced and recorded 4th studio album.

The band is endorsed by D'Addario Strings and currently features Josh Coffey,Thomas B. Oliverio, Brey McCoy, Eddie Coffey, and Casey Campbell .

Bawn in the Mash has performed hundreds of shows across the country, ranging from riverboat cruises aboard the Delta Queen Steamboat, River Barge Explorer, American Queen, and Belle of Cincinnati, to late night sets at eclectic music festivals such as the River of Music Party (ROMP), The John Hartford Memorial Festival @ Bean Blossom, Goose on the Lake, Jammin' at Hippie Jacks, the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, the Master Musician's Festival, Tall Tree Lake Festival, the Bluegrass Returns to its Roots Festival, the Mid Summer Meltdown, Sunshine Daydream @ Terra Alta WV, Nelson Ledges Quarry Park's Grateful Fest 10, Appalachian Uprising, the Eddie Pennington Festival, and many more.

Instrumentation

Josh Coffey
Thomas B. Oliverio
Eddie Coffey
Brey McCoy
Casey Campbell

Discography

Welcome to the Atomic City (2006)
Hurry Up and Wait (2007)
Confluence (2009)
Bawn in the Mash (2011)

Official Website

http://www.bawninthemash.com

Links

• Facebook
• D'Addario Artists Page

Audio

• The Paducah Rag
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• Boomtown
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• Little Piece of Paper
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• Jetset Hitchhiker
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• Icy Faces
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Bawn in the Mash release third album 'Confluence' [+ Show ]
  

  Paducah, KY- Bawn in the Mash is set to release a new album entitled 'Confluence' Thanksgiving wee...
  Paducah, KY- Bawn in the Mash is set to release a new album entitled 'Confluence' Thanksgiving weekend. Produced by Chris Henry and recorded August 11-17 at home in Paducah, 'Confluence' features 15 original tracks performed by the group in their natural habitat. The album once again will feature the artwork & design of Darin Shock, and contain all new original material performed by Bawn in the Mash.
  
  A ‘Confluence’ is defined as “the flowing together of two or more streams”. With Producer Chris Henry at the helm, ‘Confluence’ takes listeners on a trip down distributary into uncharted waters, channeling wavelengths & frequencies previously unheard or recorded. Henry is known for his mastery of bluegrass music and the development of its fusion with hip-hop, creating a signature sound described as Defgrass. This experimental background compliments the shirt tucking sounds of Bawn in the Mash, and ‘Confluence’ is the culmination of those worlds colliding. With the release of ‘Confluence’, Bawn in the Mash will have published over 60 original compositions with Wes Kaintuck Music (BMI), their independently owned publishing company.
  
  In addition, mandolinists Thomas B. Oliverio and Chris Henry are set to release two albums at the beginning of 2009: ‘Whoever You Want it to Be’, a collection of six insta-instrumental compositions recorded by the duo, and ‘Sadie’s Inner Thoughts’, a compilation album featuring songs by Jamie Pigg, Chris Black, Katie Jones, Thomas B. Oliverio, and Chris Henry.
  
  Bawn in the Mash's first release, 'Welcome to the Atomic City'(2006), was produced & recorded by the legendary Colonel Dan Knowles. ‘Welcome to the Atomic City' is a collection of 12 original compositions that historically interpret & fictitiously describe events that have occurred during the last 150 years in Western Kentucky. Living downtown Paducah, the group spent much time absorbing inspiration from the Ohio, Tennessee, and Clarks Rivers. Songs like 'Land Between the Rivers','Paducah','Past the Painted Wall’, ‘The Nuclear Waltz', & 'At the Hotel Irvin Cobb' pay tribute to a land faded & forgotten in favor of the notion of 'progress' in America. Regionalistically conceptual, the album is dedicated to Mark Twain, Irvin Cobb, John Hartford & Wendell Berry. During the recording of 'Welcome to the Atomic City', the band frequently showcased the material aboard the Delta Queen Steamboat and River Barge Explorer.
  
  Produced by Grammy winning recording engineer Phil Harris, ‘Hurry Up and Wait' was recorded in May 2007 at Battle Ridge Studio, located outside Nashville, Tennessee. Although it was his first attempt at producing a studio album, Phil Harris had been an expert audiophile for years, especially in the live setting. Phil has professionally recorded everyone from the Grateful Dead and Phish to Hot Rize, Tim O’Brien, and Doc Watson. Spending two weeks at Battle Ridge was relaxed and creatively stimulating, resulting in an album featuring 16 original compositions with special guest appearances by Donnie Herron (BR5-49, Bob Dylan Band) Tyler Grant (Drew Emmitt Band, Emmitt Nershi Band, Tavern Grass), and Chris Black. Two weeks before the recording session, Multi-instrumentalist Brey McCoy joined the group, learning most of the material on tour and in the studio. Still in their first month of utilizing electricity, BitM had developed a unique genre fusing sound that appears throughout ‘Hurry Up and Wait’.
  
  Bawn in the Mash went on to perform 110 shows in 2007, sharing the stage with Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Vince Herman, New Riders of the Purple Sage, John Cowan Band, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Jamie Hartford, Justin Townes Earle, Donnie Herron, Tyler Grant, Chris Henry, Backyard Tire Fire, Green Sky Bluegrass, 56 Hope Road, Randy Crouch, Cliff Starbuck, Alabaster Brown, Mark Schatz, Great American Taxi, Wayward Sons, New Monsoon, Jamie Pigg, Chris Volpe, and many others, ending the year with two sold out Station Inn performances with Casey Driessen on December 28 & 29.
  
  In June of 2008, the song 'Little Piece of Paper' was featured in Global Rhythm Magazine. In addition, Josh Coffey’s name made its big screen debut in the Mike Myers movie 'The Love Guru'. If you listen closely, you can hear his fiddle on 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' during the bar fight scene.
  
  Nathan Blake Lynn's solo debut 'Two Catfish and a Bluegill' was released August 21, 2008, and features 17 original tracks from the Paducah, Kentucky native and Bawn in the Mash guitarist.
  

• Bawn in the Mash to be featured on Global Rhythm Magazine June 08 CD [+ Show ]
  

  "Little Piece of Paper" will be featured in the June 2008 issue of Global Rhythm Magazine. Global Rh..."Little Piece of Paper" will be featured in the June 2008 issue of Global Rhythm Magazine. Global Rhythm has over 120,000 readers worldwide, and each issue features a full length album called ’Global Rhythm on Disc’. Recent musicians who have appeared on the sampler include Senegalese Afro-pop star Baaba Maal, Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club, India’s Susheela Raman, Corsica’s I Muvrini, Brazil’s Gilberto Gil, Ireland’s legendary Chieftains, Cape Verde’s exquisitely-voiced Cesaria Evora, and Western Kentucky’s Bawn in the Mash.

• Bawn in the Mash to appear at Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion [+ Show ]
  

  Western Kentucky has offered up the acoustic world the latest entry in genre- bending, progressive b...Western Kentucky has offered up the acoustic world the latest entry in genre- bending, progressive bluegrass bands. Much like forbearers Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon, and Railroad Earth, the boys of Bawn in the Mash are stretching the boundaries of string music to new levels. Touring since the end of 2007 to support their latest release, "Hurry Up and Wait," Bawn in the Mash has shared the stage with Tony Rice & Peter Rowan, Casey Driessen, Greensky Bluegrass, and many others. The Reunion is happy to welcome Bawn in the Mash for the second visit to Bristol.

• Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  Much like the oak casked bourbon whiskey distilled in its native Kentucky, Bawn in the Mash proves w...Much like the oak casked bourbon whiskey distilled in its native Kentucky, Bawn in the Mash proves with its second release, Hurry Up and Wait, that good things get better with age. The album is an adventurous undertaking; the Bawn boys stray from the more traditional sounds of their first release, 2006’s “Welcome to the Atomic City,” and charge down the genre-bending road forged by bands like Leftover Salmon and Railroad Earth. Bawn goes about creating an appealing, eclectic sound by adding some electric guitar, harmonica, percussion, and even a little trumpet to their traditional string band set up. Grass fans will dig “Big Poppa Reel.” But the opening track “Little Piece of Paper” is ripe and ready for some improvisational exploration, and the band even shows some alt-country swagger with “Black Mountain.” Like some of Kentucky’s finest, Hurry Up and Wait goes down easy.
  
  —Dave Stallard

• ProgFiles [+ Show ]
  

  Bawn in the Mash is a progressive bluegrass band from Paducah, KY. The band is formed by 5 musicians...Bawn in the Mash is a progressive bluegrass band from Paducah, KY. The band is formed by 5 musicians: Nathan Blake Lynn (vocals, guitar), Thomas B. Oliverio (Mandolin, vocals), Josh Coffey (violin, viola, mandolin, vocals), Alex Faught (banjo, vocals), Eddie Coffey (upright bass, resophonic guitar). They also have a drummer who plays with them as a special guest, Brey McCoy. On this album they included two more special guests: Donnie Herron (Bob Dylan), and Tyler Grand (Drew Emmitt).
  
  Hurry Up And Wait is the band’s second album after “Welcome to the Atomic City” that they released in 2006. This new album has 16 songs. Bawn In The Mash is one of the most progressive bluegrass bands, and here is why…. First of all, their songwriting. They use different time signatures in some of their songs just a like a progressive rock band does. “Little Piece of Paper”, the opening song is the best example to this. It starts just like a bluegrass song, but towards the middle there are interesting time changes and not only that but, the melody becomes an eastern European tune suddenly; especially with the violin solo. It all wraps up in the end just like it started, as a bluegrass piece, I found it very interesting. There are a few other songs like this on the album, like, “Montana Slim”, “The Thing Of It Is”…. And the song “Down The Road” with Josh’s violin solo becomes psychedelic.
  
  Psychedelic approach is actually very heavy in Hurry Up and Wait, especially in the songs written and performed by Josh Coffey. “Helpless”, “George The Whale” and “Montana Slim” are the songs he does lead vocals on, and he sounds like late 60’s acid folk singers. When I saw them live this past July, he did “Breathe” by Pink Floyd, so I knew they were into this kind of music, and actually, this was the very first time I had seen a bluegrass band perform a Pink Floyd song. It was indeed different.
  
  The band also likes 50’s style rock and roll and often uses it in songs like “Down The Road” and “Huey Lewis and the Blues”. The different genres don’t stop here actually, they sound very jazzy sometimes, especially at the end of Montana Slim. Blues is another noticeable genre on the CD. “Black Mountain” and “Heady Daze” are two of those songs.
  
  Four of the band members do lead vocals on different songs, but I found Nathan’s vocals more original. He can switch from bluegrass to blues, from ragga (not reggae) to rock and roll. “Max’s Travels” is one of those songs, and it is very fun to listen to him sing.
  
  When I opened the album cover, one thing immediately caught my attention. It is very unusual for a bluegrass band to call the “fiddle” “violin”, because of the different style of playing, not that technically there is a difference. As I started listening to each song, I began to think that may be it was intentional, because, when you hear some crazy violin solos that sound very jazzy or classical sometimes, you start to make sense out of it. Of course Donnie Herron’s influence is obvious.
  
  Besides the drums and percussions, the band uses a lot of different instruments, like, harmonica, viola, electric mandolin, resophonic guitar, electric bass, trumpet and electric guitar. On one song, “Heady Daze” they use both electric and upright bass, and on “Big Pappa Reel” there is double fiddle fiesta.
  
  Bawn In The Mash, is not a regular progressive bluegrass band. They apparently have rock and jazz background as well, and they reflect it professionally into their work both live and in the studio. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them play at a rock festival actually. They are fun to listen, and fun to watch onstage. It is obvious that they put a lot of effort on their new album. You can see them play anywhere around Midwest throughout the year. If you are looking for a rugged yet sophisticated jam band, I would recommend you to buy this CD, you won’t regret it.
  
  Hande BURDG
  Rating:
  5 Stars

• Hurry Up and Wait Belgium Review [+ Show ]
  

  Bluegrass, normaal niet echt iets voor mij, maar toch, aan dit cd'tje heb ik me gewaagd, want dit is...Bluegrass, normaal niet echt iets voor mij, maar toch, aan dit cd'tje heb ik me gewaagd, want dit is bluegrass buiten categorie. Zelf noemen ze het Atomic Grass, maar dat betekent in het geheel niet dat je hier Punkachtige toestanden mag verwachten, zoals dat onlangs het geval was met het punky bluegrass gezelschap Los Duggans. Neen, Bawn in the Mash is duidelijk conservatiever, maar toch is geen doordeweekse, 13 in een dozijn bluegrasband. Ze zijn fris, origineel en grappig. Zo zijn er Marokkaanse invloeden, hip hop invloeden, jazzinvloeden, maar ook blues en improvisaties allerhande, zowel instrumentaal en vocaal. Dit alles houdt de cd boeiend en interessant, en geloof me, ik dacht nooit dat ik dat van een bluegrassrelease ooit zou zeggen. Neem nu "Max Travels", snelle vocals, jazzy banjo's, tempowisselingen, bluegrass with a twist. Of "Heazy Daze", een bluesy, melancholisch sfeertje, een mooie dobro en fiddle en de klagende stem van Nathan Blake Lynn, mooie sfeervolle song. Ook "Down The Road" is knap, en meer Americana dan echte bluegrass, ondanks de banjos en mandolines. Grappig is dan weer de a capella doowop paradie op Huey Lewis "Huey Lewis & The Blues". Een van die nummers waar er duchtig op los geimproviseerd wordt is "Big Poppa Reel", een instrumental, deze keer wel pure bluegrass, waar (gast) violist Donnie Herrin (BR-549, Dylan), halfweg op hol slaat en alléén improviseert tot het (bittere) einde. Het Iers aandoende "Waitin On Dixie" en "Black Mountain", een rustige song met mooie dobropassages zijn nog twee verdere hoogtepunten op deze "Hurry Up and Wait", maar de verrassing komt op het einde. Het 15.38 minuten durende: "The Thing Of It Is" dat in feite bestaat uit 2 los van elkaar staande gedeeltes, deel 2 is de hidden track die na enkele minuten stilte terug opduikt. Op deel 1 hadden we dan al mogen luisteren naar een hip hop inprovisatie, fun in de studio, maar wel goed gedaan. Daarmee is "Hurry Up And Wait" toch best een bluegrass release geworden die me regelmatig kon boeien, en waarnaar het prettig luisteren was.
  (RON)

• Bawn in the Mash to perform with Peter Rowan and Tony Rice [+ Show ]
  

  LovettLive and WKMS-FM join to bring bluegrass at its best to the stage of Murray State University’s...LovettLive and WKMS-FM join to bring bluegrass at its best to the stage of Murray State University’s Lovett Auditorium for the first concert of 2008. The 2008 LovettLive/WKMS-FM Music from the Front Porch concert promises stellar performances from nationally admired acoustic legends Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet and west Kentucky's own bluegrass legends in the making, Bawn in the Mash. The show opens Saturday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. A silent auction fundraiser to support the operations budget for WKMS (a public radio station) will be held at 6 p.m., prior to the concert.
  
  The annual Front Porch concert features music enjoyed by listeners of the longstanding WKMS program Music From the Front Porch, which is heard on 91.3 FM, Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  “When the decision was made to ask a well-known group to perform at the 2008 concert, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice were at the top of everybody’s list,” says Front Porch co-host Mark Welch. “Decades ago, both of these guys were playing with the likes of Bill Monroe (Rowan) and J.D. Crowe (Rice), and they’ve continued to influence acoustic and roots music.”
  “Rowan and Rice are master musicians and songwriters who have been major forces in shaping not only bluegrass music but all genres influenced by bluegrass,” added Front Porch co-host John McMillen.
  After enjoying many years of successful solo careers, Rowan and Rice are now taking the best of the old and adding new creativity as duo artists. Their latest album, Quartet, expresses all of the fire and fluidity of the new band’s live performances, featuring classics of Townes Van Zandt and Patti Smith, bluegrass standards and traditional ballads, along with classic Rowan originals and amazingly reinvented selections. Bluegrass Now says, "The spellbinding synergy of Rowan's soulful serenades and Rice's masterful flat-picking ...it's almost as if the singer and accompanist are one in the same."
  Bawn in the Mash gave a stunning performance at 2007’s Front Porch concert and played to a sold-out LovettLive audience last summer. McMillen and Welch agree, "Bawn’s youthful and edgy energy will be a perfect opener to the 'star power' of Rowan & Rice."
  Nathan Lynn, Josh Coffey, Cody Campbell, and Thomas Oliverio blended their talents to form the group in 2002 while they were students at Murray State and began performing regionally in 2005. Original members Lynn, Oliverio and Josh Coffey make up the current Bawn group, along with Eddie Coffey and Alex Faught. In less than three years they have performed nearly 200 live shows across the Midwest and southeast United States and released two independent studio albums, Welcome to the Atomic City (2006) and this year's Hurry Up and Wait.
  Tickets for the Lovett Live/WKMS-FM Music From the Front Porch concert are $15 and are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com, Murray State's Regional Special Events Center Box Office, or 1-877-894-4474. All tickets are general admission and will also be available at the door on the night of the concert. Doors open at 6 p.m.
  Flamingo Row of Paducah, Jackson Purchase Energy Corporation of Paducah, Paducah Parenting, Rehab Associates of Paducah, Stone Lang of Fulton, Murray and Paducah, and Western Baptist Hospital of Paducah are all contributing support for this event.
  For more information about the concert, the silent auction, or WKMS programming, visit the website, www.wkms.org, or call 800-599-4737.

• Bawn in the Mash brings high-energy bluegrass to Lovett Live [+ Show ]
  

  The Lovett Live Concert Series at Murray State University continues Friday, Aug. 31, with a performa...The Lovett Live Concert Series at Murray State University continues Friday, Aug. 31, with a performance by the high-energy bluegrass band Bawn in the Mash. The show opens at 8 p.m. inside Lovett Auditorium.
  
  
  Billed out of Paducah, Bawn in the Mash has established strong ties to Murray and the entire western Kentucky region since they first got together to pick and play. After a chance hearing of Wes Kaintuck and the Atomic City Rambler’s legendary 1967 recording “O Shrewsbury Where Art Thou?” the group pushed forward on a hunch to contact the often known to be reclusive Kaintuck. Their timing couldn’t have been better with Kaintuck planning his first tour in 20 years and subsequently inviting Bawn in the Mash to be his backing band. A road trip that spanned several months allowed the young band to study their idol and develop their own style that they are known for today.
  
  In addition to touring, Bawn in the Mash members Josh Coffey, Tommy Oliverio, Eddie Coffey, Alex Faught and Nathan Lynn have been working in the studio to produce their second full-length album, due out this fall.
  
  Their first compilation, “Welcome to the Atomic City” featured a selection of original acoustic compositions that both historically interprets and fictitiously describes events that could have occurred during the past 150 years around western Kentucky.
  
  The new album is produced by 2007 Grammy winner Phil Harris and features appearances by Donnie Herron of the Bob Dylan Band and BR549, Tyler Grant of the Drew Emmitt Band, Grandpa Black, and Brey McCoy on drums. Fans will find that this collection spotlights Bawn in the Mash’s wide range of interests and ideas into a fantastic patchwork of sounds.
  
  A new concept in concerts at Murray State University, the Lovett Live OnStage Series has taken off with fans that want to get down to the basics with the music. The intimate coffee house style seating for 200 includes tables, leather sofas and giant chairs set up to bring the audience and performers in union for an unforgettable concert experience.
  
  For more information about tickets to see Bawn in the Mash at Lovett Auditorium go to www.ticketmaster.com, call 1-877-894-4473, or visit the RSEC box office. Log onto www.myspace.com/lovettlive for the latest information about upcoming events. The website also offers a chance to become a VIP Friend and win free tickets to future concerts.

• Welcome to the Atomic City Review 09/06 [+ Show ]
  

  Together as a group since 2005, Bawn in the Mash kicks off their set with a hand-me-down, "Sail Away...Together as a group since 2005, Bawn in the Mash kicks off their set with a hand-me-down, "Sail Away Sally," that appears to be a nod of respect for the traditional spirits and distillers of western Kentucky's musical roots. Their original acoustic music with elements from various genres has some relaxed sparkle and a friendly intimacy. Bawn in the Mash is Josh Coffey (violin, mandolin), Nathan Lynn (guitar), Tommy Oliverio (mandolin), Alex Faught (banjo), and Eddie Coffey (bass, guitar). In some songs, Coffey and Oliverio share the mandolin breaks. All band members have compositions on "Welcome to the Atomic City." A few have catchy little melodies that are carefully cultivated, even if they don't have them fully polished instrumentally and vocally. Still, their wry quirkiness creates an earthy kind of ambiance. "Livin' in Yesterday" has doo-wop vocals with the dichotomy of twin fiddles to build a mood for a love-starved and deserted drunkard. The rough edges of Oliverio's "Musical Moon" are smoothed with his own conversational vocal refrain.
  Produced by old-time banjo champ Dan Knowles of Tennessee), the band recorded "Welcome to Atomic City" in ten sessions over a three month period. Alex Faught's instrumental "Poundcake" is a clever tune that gives everyone a piece of the action. The album's intent was to historically interpret and fictitiously describe events that could have occurred during the past 150 years around western Kentucky. "At the Hotel Irvin Cobb" speaks to a 1937 flood, cats and dogs sleeping on the roof, and being able to get anything you want at the historic inn. With an appeal to younger crowds, a ditty like "Hey John" gives every instrumentalist in the band a chance to wash a few blues away with their breaks. Nathan Lynn does most of the lead singing, and he is able to describe some picturesque storybook scenes in songs like "The Land Between the Rivers" and "Tow" and "Paducah." Their homebase of Paducah, Ky. lies in a region called the land of four rivers (Clarks, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland). Eddie Coffey sings his own "Mary Jane." What he lacks in grace is replaced with a directness and grit. An interesting sparse duo arrangement of "Past the Painted Wall" teams Josh Coffey's lead vocal and mandolin with his father Eddie Coffey's bass and guitar. Not a wildly triumphant debut, but still they manage to put their own original stamp on string band sounds in a musical makeover that was still "bawn in the mash." As their music continues to brew, distill, refine and purify, it will only get better. They have managed to extract an essence of western Kentucky's traditional heritage and condense it all into something of their very own. (Joe Ross)

Setlist

original arrangements written and recorded by Bawn in the Mash.

Basic Requirements

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