Open Range

The seeds of Open Range were planted more than 25 years ago when Rex Raymond, Letha Raymond and Dan Brandon (Rex, Letha & Dan) began blending their voices at kitchen tables, campfires, and traditional music festivals, backed by the subtle instrumentation provided by two acoustic guitars. Their love of singing together developed into an ability to unearth the unique vocal harmony in a song in order to wring out the most gut-wrenching emotion from its lyrics. Rex’s rock-solid lead vocals and guitar work are supported by Dan’s rhythm guitar and fine tenor vocals, along with Letha’s haunting soprano. An occasional lead vocal by Dan or Letha adds to the texture of their musical offering. Wes Raymond (son of Rex and Letha) grew up listening to the trio, matured into a musician in his own right, and now brings his skillful, energetic upright bass to the band. Fate handed down a chance encounter with Jon Potrykus, the fit was good, and soon Jon was cranking up the group’s smooth vocal sound with his hot licks and soulful laments on fiddle, dobro and mandolin. From country standards, to western murder ballads; from old-time, to bluegrass, to blues, to folk; from the semi-popular to the truly obscure, these rural Michigan performers work from an eclectic song list that defies categorizing. Influenced by songwriters and singers that range from the famous to the nearly unknown, the group simply performs songs that move them, regardless of the genre. Sprinkled throughout are some of Dan’s original tunes. Together they mix up a soulful musical recipe that lifts the spirit, grabs the heart and sticks to the ribs.