Lone Mountain Trio album release show at Downtown’s historic Ellen Theatre
Southwest Montana’s Lone Mountain Trio will bring an album release performance celebration to The Ellen Theatre on Thursday, August 2nd beginning at 7:30pm. The talented trio featuring John Lowell, Kevin Fabozzi and Tom Murphy play a variety of acoustic instruments including guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, and mandocello, accompanied by tight vocal harmonies. They’ve spent the last ten years playing in Big Sky during ski season. Their unique approach to original songs and cover tunes can now be heard on the new album The Breaks and the Badlands, which will be available at the show.
John Lowell is well known to Montana music lovers as a triple threat – his flatpicking, songwriting and singing are on display in his work with bands like Kane’s River, the Growling Old Men and Two Bit Franks.
“The thing I like about playing with Tom and Kevin is the interplay between our instruments. Both those guys seem to have a big vocabulary of musical ideas,” said Lowell in an interview from his Livingston home. “They both push me to try new things. Everybody listens to the other guy and we have this interesting musical conversation. I like how tight we’ve become. All three of us are solo artists – so the combination – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Kevin Fabozzi performs at Big Sky solo and is also a member of Two Bit Franks (the Lone Mountain trio with bassist Russ Smith and banjo player Jeff Shouse). He was a member of the Montana Mandolin Society for several years and toured the world with them as an Ambassador.
Kevin says of the band, “It’s a good balanced groove of John with his great songwriting, incredible flatpicking and singing, and Tom with his incredible mandolin playing and the instrumentals he brings to the band. Tom’s overall knowledge of chords, harmonies and chord tones is astounding – that’s been a catalyst we all agree has helped this band find their sound. There’s something really unique and fun about putting our harmonies together. That’s been a real joy.”
Tom Murphy has been tearing up the strings with his mandolin work with local bands Little Jane and the Pistol Whips, Stormy Creek, the Hooligans, the Two Bit Franks and many more.
“Kevin took on the mandocello – a member of the mandolin family in a much lower register – adding a key low end and percussive sound that is unique to the Lone Mountain Trio,” Murphy said. “Kevin was originally a guitarist when this trio started. The addition of the mandocello has given this band an unusual range of tones – from the very low to the very high. John and Kevin do the lead vocals and I really enjoy harmonizing with both of them. They’re great musicians and good friends.”
The trio were recently were chosen to perform for the Montana Performing Arts Consortium at their annual conference. At the conference, the band performed for presenters from all over the state and were swarmed afterwards to talk about scheduling both shows and teaching workshops.
“We’re excited about performing at the Ellen,” said Lowell. “It’s a gorgeous space, the acoustics are great – it will be a treat.”
The show is being presented in association with the Bozeman Folklore Society. Tickets are $18.50, and Bozeman Folklore members receive $2 off per ticket. Visit www.theellentheatre.org for advance tickets and venue details. To receive your discount, contact the box office at (406) 585-5885 or EllenBoxStaff@gmail.com. •
