Local musicians to be featured at Pigs & Swigs

[May 21, 2018]  LINCOLN -- Barbecue treats won’t be the only thing to sample at this year’s Pigs & Swigs festival June 1 and 2 on the downtown Lincoln square. This year’s celebration will include varied tastes in street music.

Performing will be a scaled-back version of Danny Tackett’s Chicken Pickin’ Orchestra; Twang, a duo from Bloomington; finger-picking guitarist Dave Berchtold from Minier with musical pal Brian Stear; and stellar bass player Bradford Walsh from Mount Pulaski with some musician friends from his days at Mount Pulaski High School and Lincoln College.

Tackett and friends, Polly Sampson and Jimmy Birkey, will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and again from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. The three other groups will be featured in various spots around the square from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Chicken Pickers rely on bluegrass, traditional country and a few pop standards from the past. The group appears monthly to sell-out crowds at The Palms Grill in Atlanta.

Twang

Twang includes Tom Ricker on guitar, ukulele and harmonica and Bruce Bergethon on fiddle and mandolin. They perform a wide range of styles, reflecting on their long history with central Illinois bands. Ricker’s credentials include long stints with two popular groups, Kool Ray and the Polaroidz and later the X-Ray Men. Bergethon spent many years as a founding member of the Old Men Boys, a crowd favorite throughout the area.

Tackett & Birkey

Berchtold and Stear also rely on a variety of material for their repertoire. Piedmont-style fingerpicking is Berchtold’s specialty, which he incorporates into folk, rock and blues. He also writes much of his own material. Stear, his picking pal, is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up in Los Angeles. He plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica during the duo’s shows.
Walsh’s talents on bass belie his youthfulness. He also plays a variety of music, including jazz, rock, country and pop. He’s performed for years with fellow musicians, first at Mount Pulaski High School and later at Lincoln College. He’s finishing his first full year at Illinois State University.

[story and pictures provided by Danny Tackett]