Allegheny Ridgerunners grow bluegrass audience

By Jenna Spinelle - For the CDT


After making their public debut in 2010, the Allegheny Ridgerunners hope to capitalize on the burgeoning bluegrass scene in State College.



The group was pieced together over the past few years and first performed together at Cafe 210 West in State College in Februay.

 

“It’s pretty cool to be a bluegrass band that plays downtown,” said Will Hancock, the group’s guitar player and a professor of bioengineering at Penn State. “There’s really a critical mass forming right now and a lot of great venues where bands like us can play locally.”



The band’s members — Hancock, bassist Celia Millington-Wyckoff, fiddle player Kurt Kroeker and banjo player Keith Miska — met through other local musicians and were united by a common desire to play bluegrass music. Kroeker, trained as a classical violin player, had never played bluegrass before but said his family members and former teachers are now coming to him to perform at gigs.



“Bluegrass is different from classical music because we learn everything by ear and don’t read music


Read more in The Centre Daily Times