The GRASS PISTOLS

Bio of the band starts with the name Country Saloon and this name appears in all our early activities up to the middle of 2010. So when we speak about The Grass Pistols band's history we come back to the name Country Saloon.

Country Saloon was organized in 1979 in the city of Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod now) at the Institute of languages. At first it was a good tradition of the Institute and the newcomers changed the graduates in the group. That was a kind of a pleasant hobby for those students who played in the band.

Since 1989 CS got into great country music movement. They visited some festivals that took place in : Fermer (Moscow) 1989-93; Country Fest (Saratov) 1993,94; Harku Jarve (Estonia) 1989,90; Essen (Germany) 1994; Visagino Country (Lithuania) 2005, Big Country Music Day (Moscow) 2005.

As for the style they play some traditional pieces like "Walking Shoes", “Banks Of The Ohio”, “Rocky Top” and songs composed in bluegrass style by the members of the band. Besides, you can hear some experimental material. Also you will find several songs of New Grass Revival, Creedence and Dan Fogelberg in their repertoire.

In 2005 CS took part at the international country festival Visagino Country in Lithuania.

In September 2005 CS visited the Big Country Music Day festival in Moscow, that had been revived after 13-year period of time break.

By the end of 2005 some changes took place in the band. In a while CS with its new members worked out a new program and now the audience can hear it at their concerts.

New program songs " A Belly Of Wine", " The Cowboy Way", " Get On Your Horse!" composed by Michael Dushin are among the most successful pieces of the band.

In 2006 CS took part at the international bluegrass music festival in La Roche-sur-Foron (France) where they got 2nd place among the European bluegrass groups.

In 2007 CS was invited to play in Craponne-sur-Arzon (France) as guests at the local country music festival. Here musicians took several concerts on different stages of the town in the open air. And in a week they moved to the mountainous region of France. It was again bluegrass music festival of La Roche-sur-Foron. And again they were 2nd among 30 groups from the whole Europe!

The year of 2008, summer. CS was invited to the USA to take part at some events in Tennessee and Virginia: Tim White's TV Show "Song Of The Mountains" (Marion, VA); Picking' Porch Show (Bristol, TN), Beck Mountain Corn Maze (Elizabethton, TN).

In 2009 CS again played together with best bluegrass musicians of Europe at the International bluegrass festival in La Roche sur Foron (France). This time the CS musicians performed as invited guests and didn't take part in the contest. Several new pieces were presented to the audience of the festival.

2009, November. CS took part at "Vilnius Bluegrass 2009" (Lithuania) where they happen to jam with the legend of American bluegrass movement - Peter Rowan.

Summer and autumn of 2010 the band spent being on tour in the USA where they had more than 40 concerts for that period of time. They played in Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The most important events were: BLUEGRASS IN THE PARK bluegrass festival in Henderson, KY; DOWN HOME in Johnson City, TN; O'Mainnin's Pub in Bristol, TN; on line performance at Bristol TV. People could also read about The band in some of the local newspapers. The Grass Pistols is planning their next tour in the USA that starts on the 4th of May 2011.