The Gelina Family

The Gelina Family consists of......guitar, mandolin, bass, dobro, banjo, fiddle and vocal versatility. One of the best acoustic country/bluegrass bands to come out of New England in quite sometime. The Gelina Family has performed all over New England, Tennessee and Canada with great response from loyal acoustic country/bluegrass fans. They have a unique style all their own.....using the versatility of all four vocalist. Brian and Lois are veteran bluegrass performers with a hint of the old country flavor.

Brian Gelina - Guitar,Mandolin,Dobro,Banjo/Lead, baritone - Born and raised in Massachuscetts, Brian now makes his home in the Gardiner, Maine area. Although he is well known for his excellent guitar skills in the country music field and has been playing the guitar since the age of 8, he has always enjoyed bluegrass music and displays his versatility on mandolin, dobro and banjo. Brian has been performing in Country Music bands since the age of sixteen across all of New England and in the past 15 years has been following the bluegrass circuit. Aside from being in his own band "Traditional Heights" with his wife, Lois, he has performed or recorded with some bluegrass/country musicians such as Fiddlin' Tim Farrell, Al Hawkes, Fred Lantz, Burt Truman, Everard Dodge, Roseanna Rogers and The Shiloh Mountain Boys.

Lois Gelina - Bass/Lead, tenor - Born in Virginia and grew up in Connecticut and Maine, Lois now makes her home in the Gardiner, Maine area. She has been around Bluegrass and Country music since her childhood and a major influence was her father, Jim Savage, who helped pass down the family tradition of strong lead and harmony vocals. Another vocal influence was a friend (and her female vocal idol), the late Earlene Pike from The Pike Family Band. Lois started out playing in a family band known as "Blinnhill Travelers", and went on to form a band called "Blinnhill Bluegrass". In 1983 Lois joined Stan and Dan Tyminski in a well-known Vermont based band known as "Green Mountain Bluegrass" which toured throughout the Northeast. Until recently, when her children decided they wanted to perform steadily as a family band, she performed with Brian in their bluegrass band "Traditional Heights".

Cliff and Mandy are a National Award-Winning brother and sister duet from the State of Maine. Although they are at the young ages of 15 and 11, they have received great recognition for their vocal acheivements together and individually. They received "Junior Traditional Country Duet of The Year" for the year 2001 and 2002, and 2nd Place for Traditional Country Duet-Mixed Age Group (7-21) for 2003 at the Louise Mandrel Theater, in Pigeon Forge, TN for the NACMAI (North America Country Music Association International Competitions.

Cliff has been singing since the early age of 3. He has been competing for several years in the DECMA (Downeast Country Music Association) competitions in the State of Maine and received the award for Junior Male Traditional Country Vocalist and Junior Bluegrass Artist for 1999. The following year he received Junior Male Traditional Country Vocalist, Junior Male Gospel Vocalist for 2000, and Junior Bluegrass Artist for 2000/2002. He also recently received the award for Junior Male Bluegrass Vocalist for 2003 along with past 2001/2002 Junior Male Traditional Country Vocalist in the National Competitions from the North America Country Music Association International Competitions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The most prestigious award that he was honored with recently was the “2003 Young Ambassador Award” from NACMAI. The MCMA (Maine Country Music Association) awarded Cliff with Youth Male Country Vocalist for 2002. Cliff has been treating us to some of his guitar and mandolin achievements within the last couple years. Cliff has performed at several concerts and festivals with Traditional Heights, Tim Farrell , Dirigo Highway and Maine-ly Country to name a few. He recently performed with "Tim Farrell and Friends" at The Maine Lobster Festival opening for "TERRI CLARK". Some of Cliff's great influences have been, Dan Tyminski, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Ronnie Bowman and Lonesome River Band and the sensational bluegrass vocal group- IIIrd Tyme Out.

Mandy followed close behind her brother and began singing when she was around 6 years old. She also loves to pick out some tunes on the piano/keyboards and has recently showed interest in the fiddle. Some of her major influences are Suzanne Cox, Alison Krauss, Terri Clark and Rhonda Vincent. Mandy just recently started entering in the DECMA & NACMAI Competitions. Her first year at competitions awarded her with the 2000 1st place DECMA Junior Female Traditional Country Vocalist and 2nd place DECMA Junior Bluegrass Artist. This achievement gave her the opportunity to go on to compete in the NACMAI Competitions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and receive 2001"The Rising Star Award" for Junior Fe