KInd Words from our fans

CD NOTES by Cousin Jim                                    

SAGE CREEK 

 Self –Titled CD 

The long awaited self-titled CD from Sage Creek is finally hot off the presses.  For the last several years, this band of friends have been wowing audiences all over the Northern Nevada area. 

Co-founders Steve Gallagher and Dennis Grundy met at a jam class and started practicing fiddle tunes on their mandolins together.  They found that it would be even better making music if they had a bass player help them with timing.  And so they invited Annie Pinkerton to join-in on the fun.  Not long after that the small group of friends decided to invite Sharon Tetly into the group with her dobro, and then they met a newly transplanted fellow from Florida who played great leads on the guitar, Phil McGill. With the five-some in place they set out to make music all around the NNBA area. 

The album starts off with Phil’s beautiful guitar leading in Annie’s pretty voice on one of my favorite Sage Creek songs, “Halley Came to Jackson”.  Annie likes to introduce the song with her family’s story of when her grandfather got to see it twice in the 20th century. The second track features Dennis on vocals with Phil’s bluesy guitar lead and Steve’s thoughtful percussive mandolin.  Dennis really show-off his range on “Muddy Waters” and Sharon’s dobro makes it a very haunting melody. Phil then sings the Dylan song, “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”.  This song shows some great Bob Dylan poetry.! The next song on the CD is a Gordon Lightfoot song, “Early Morning Rain”.  Sharon does a beautiful version with Steve’s happy mandolin playing the intro.  Steve and Phil share a mandolin/guitar duet on the Irish fiddle tune, “Paddy On The Beat”. Annie sings a Beatles tune with dobro, mandolin, and guitar complimenting Annie’s beautiful voice on “I Will”. Sharon wrote the next song on the CD, “The Dreams We’re Living Today”. Such a wonderful and award-winning song, played with a mandolin and dobro intro. This is a tender song of missing someone special and good memories of that person. Steve is also a talented tune-smith and wrote the melody of “Quartz Thief Trail”.  The tune gives us listeners the sense of a hard life in the old West. Pretty mandolin duets by Steve and Dennis accent this wonderful fiddle tune. You’ll enjoy the Hillman/Pedersen classic, “Wheels” with a duet by Steve and Phil.  Dennis sings the Dylan classic, “Fare Thee Well” and Steve and Sharon share the melody on the Kate Wolf song, “Here In California”.  Sage Creek closes out the CD with two classics.  The great Dillard song, “There Is A Time”, showcases the bands a cappella voices on the introduction.   And the closing song is a happy tune, “Live Forever”.  This one will leave the listeners wanting more. 

Go to a live performance of this group and pick-up a copy of this wonderful CD!!

Cousin Jim

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 "With their first, self produced, CD Sage Creek has proven the hard work they have put in is worth a listen.  The variety of tunes they've put together shows a vast understanding of what I'd call "Newgrass."

Tim the Doorman, former Program Director KKUP 91.5

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Sage Creek has become one of Northern Nevada's best known vocal and acoustic bands and stands at the top or our list for a great musical experience.  The group's blend of bluegrass, folk, country and light rock and roll always features outstanding individual vocals and superb harmonies.  Not to be missed!

Celeste & Jerry R.

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Sage Creek is my first pick for a date night or family night outing.  Strong vocal harmonies, talented musicianship and great stage presence make for a winning evening every time!

Russel D.

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The band always connects with the audience, they enjoy performing and their faces show that joy.  I love harmony singing and band always includes some harmony singing and playing in the performances.  The band's song sets evolve old favorites and new tunes alike  

Martha G.  

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Sage Creek is truly a delight to experience!  They have a great catalog of songs to play through - I have seen them play numerous times around town and every performance has been stellar!  Maybe it's their singing harmonies, maybe it's their jokes between songs, maybe it's the sheer joy they exude while playing for the audience.  What I can tell you, is if you have a the chance to see them live, DO IT!

Cinammon D.

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ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN THE NORTHERN NEVADA BLUEGRASS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

I had the privilege of watching a great new band on their inaugural outing for “real people”. “Real” according to the group means non-blue-grassers. The show was held at the Cascades of the Sierra, as an NNBA performance, and I think all in attendance enjoyed it thoroughly. Several blue-grassers came to listen, along with the residents. Everyone was clapping and cheering!

Sage Creek is one of the emerging bands, coming out of the Wednesday night sessions, held at the First Congregational Church. Dennis Grundy and Steve Gallagher met at the jam and decided to practice together to perfect their mandolin playing. They found that a strong bass beat would help keep them in time, so Annie Pinkerton was asked to join-in the practice sessions. As this little band evolved, they asked Sharon Tetly to play guitar and Dobro. A new NNBA member from Florida joined the group on lead guitar, Phil McGill, and Sage Creek was formed.

The group showed off it’s talents on each instrument, and on wonderful harmony singing. Dennis and Steve took turns on mandolin for the kick-off tune, “Soldier’s Joy”. Phil sang “Fiddler’s Green”, and Dennis got the crowd clapping and singing with ”Gotta Travel On”. Steve sang “I’ve Endured” and Sharon sang a wonderful version of the Gordon Lightfoot song, “Early Morning Rain”. Annie sang “Good News” and the harmonies were wonderful.

This band has dug out many great songs, that haven’t been played as much lately. One of these was a favorite of mine, “Eli Renfro”. Dennis and I got to hear this as a brand-new song back in the ‘70’s, and always enjoyed it. Other fun songs included “Wishing Well Blues”, “Halley Came to Jackson”, “I Dreamed Of An Old Love Affair”, and “Long Black Veil”. With a good sprinkling of fiddle tunes, “Cherokee Shuffle” and “Paddy On The Beat”, the instrumentals rounded out the great harmony singing. Sage Creek closed their show with “Live Forever” making a very fun show with good lead picking and wonderful four part harmonies.

Keep up the good sounds!! 
Jim Lappin