Bios

A little bit about ourselves:

David Perrin - Banjo

When Buck 55's Media Relations Liaison asked me to write a bio, I put down my knitting needles and spun this yarn. In February or March 2007, I walked into Maple Leaf Music in Brattleboro, VT and heard Christian Glines ripping up some sick bluegrass guitar. Christian introduced me to the Stockwells' bluegrass jam at McKliments in Putney, VT and Ben Yelle and Alan Lasky's jam at The Mole's Eye in Brattleboro, VT. These jams felt like a church that I wanted to go to. After a couple years meeting some great friends through jams and festivals, I plateaued with bluegrass guitar. I wanted to improve but wasn't setting aside additional time to make it happen.

For my birthday in 2009, Shawna got me a banjo and Bruce Stockwell gave me a free lesson. Best. Birthday. Presents. Ever! I took lessons with Bruce pretty consistently for a while and again fell into a plateau where I wanted to make time to improve but wasn't setting aside time to make it happen. Banjo has not been an easy instrument to learn how to play. The more I played it, the less I played guitar. And the more I played banjo, the more I wanted to bring it to jams – but I wasn't ready. I'm still not! Yet somehow I'm playing banjo in Rise! and Buck 55 and super lucky to have been exposed to some amazing music, musicians, and made some of my closest friends through music.



Shawna Perrin - Stand-Up Bass

Having completely failed at learning flute or clarinet in grade school, I never thought I'd pick up the upright bass at the tender age of 37. Thanks to a tenuous grasp on the Nashville Number System, and lots of bluegrass jams with patient friends, I fell in love with good old-fashioned roots music, and started understanding that there was way more to bluegrass than meets the eye; those old dudes in white cowboy hats could sing a murder ballad that'd keep you up at night. When I realized the similarities between my beloved punk rock, and old-time, bluegrass, mountain tunes, and early country music, I knew I was really home. Thanks to my current bandmates in Rise! and Buck 55, I get to play all kinds of badass music that means the world to me.

  
Adam Joslyn - Guitar

My interest in music has led me down several different paths including playing bass in a heavy metal band and guitar in a five piece Irish band. I went to see the Reverend Horton Heat play with Hank Williams III and my love for country music exploded. Since then I find myself playing anything country with a little bit of my punk rock roots mixed in.