Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band
If you haven’t already heard about the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band, you soon will!
Based in Northern California, the band consists of four members: Teo Quale on mandolin, Miles Quale on fiddle, Andrew Osborn on bass and Ian Ly on guitar. The band embarked on a ten-day tour of Japan in March/April of 2023, a bluegrass cruise to the Bahamas in February 2023, and another bluegrass cruise is planned for 2024. They were on the stage at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (winning the 2023 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year) and are playing major bluegrass festivals such as Grey Fox, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and DelFest. Yet, they don’t consider themselves a professional touring band.
Maria Quale (mother of Teo and Miles), as the band’s “Momager,” expressed how impressed she is at what this band has accomplished. “They are not a professional touring band. They don’t have an agent, or a label. But they’ve played major festivals, internationally and across the US. They’ve paid their dues and worked really hard to be where they are.”
A mix of bluegrass, jazz, and modern originals, the group’s performances and recordings are a unique blend of the genres and a bridge between old and new. While a performance or recording may include a version of Bill Monroe’s “Molly and Tenbrooks” or the traditional “Angelina Baker,” it may also include “Song for My Mother,” a jazzy instrumental written by mandolinist Teo Quale or “The Man Next Door,” penned by bassist Andrew Osborn. Their sophomore album, Monroe Bridge, released in 2020, included thirteen tracks, which in many ways honored the pioneers of the genre with “Fiddlin’ Joe,” “Hartford’s Real,” “Walls of Time,” and “Monroe Bridge” (an original by the Quale brothers). In September 2022, they released another 13 track album, The Thing of Dreams, which proves their interest in music is extremely varied as they reached a little further into the vault to include Billie Holiday’s “All of Me” and Buck Owens’s “We Were Made for Each Other.” They have 2 other releases, Crying Uncle and Till I Dance Again with You, and anticipate a new album due out in 2024.
The band started in 2016 as the Crying Uncle Duo, with brothers Miles and Teo Quale, who were 11 and 9 years of age respectively at the time. The brothers, who began playing music at an early age, grew up in a musical family. Their paternal grandfather was a jazz pianist, and their father, Chris, played classical guitar. Miles started on Suzuki violin and Teo on fiddle, both at age 3.
When asked how Miles and Teo became interested in bluegrass music, Maria replied, “My friend, Catherine is married to Chad Manning, who plays with David Grisman. We went to Chad and Catherine’s Kids Bluegrass Jam and after that day, Teo said he wanted to play that kind of music on that instrument (fiddle).” It was at this point their father stopped playing classical and started playing bluegrass and their mother started playing clawhammer banjo. “We had a family band the first few years. We wanted to model to the children that we were starting from scratch, and the kids could teach the parents,” she said. The family became involved in bluegrass music by going to various music camps and festivals and hosting house concerts for artists such as Brittany Haas, Sean Watkins and Jody Stecher in addition to bands like Sideline, Mile Twelve and the Argentina-based string band Che Apalache.
By 2017, the brothers were adding to the band to form the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band. They were already acquainted with bass player Andrew Osborn through the California Bluegrass Association’s Kids on Bluegrass program. “Playing with Andrew is so fun, not only because of his rock-solid rhythm, but also due to our history with him. He was the first member Teo and I added to the band, and his enthusiasm and drive to expand the band is a big factor in why we decided to form the full unit,” Miles Quale remarked.
An outstanding musician in his own right, Andrew began his music education at the age of four on the fiddle and added bass at the age of eight. He was selected to appear in the IBMA Kids on Bluegrass program in 2016 and 2017 and played many showcases at IBMA in 2018. He also grew up in a musical family with father, Joe, playing fiddle. Andrew stated, “I found the most inspiration in bluegrass from the people I got to play with. Many of the styles of playing and songs I’ve learned are from playing in a band or jamming with others. Many of my favorite versions of songs are ones that I get to make with other people.”
Later that year, the fourth musician added to form the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band was guitarist John Gooding. They were also acquainted with John through IBMA’s Kids on Bluegrass and the California Bluegrass Association.
The bluegrass band has toured in Finland and Japan and played at Bluegrass in La Roche, France. And they are semi-regulars on Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruises, performing in the Bahamas last February. John left the band in early 2023 to join his brother, Josh, to tour with Little Roy and Lizzie. Although the absence of a guitar player left a huge gap, the gap was quickly filled by another acquaintance, Ian Ly.
Ian Ly doesn’t have the same family musical background as the other band members and didn’t start playing guitar until age 15, when he began studying with Steve Palazzo of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Jake Workman of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Although he had never been in a band until connecting with Crying Uncle, his natural ability shines through, and it seems he has been a member the entire time. In 2023, Ian won the Walnut Valley National Flatpick Guitar Championship, and he has made great strides in his abilities as a band member and a guitarist. Ian cites guitar greats Clarence White, Tony Rice, Doc Watson and Norman Blake as his prominent influences. Originally from Kansas, Ian currently resides in California.
With three of the band members in college, and one in high school, it’s incredible how they juggle the schedule that comes with touring, recording, college, and home.
What does the future hold for this tremendous band? If they can’t make it in bluegrass as a career, they have a “Plan B.”
Currently, Miles is studying Global Jazz and Astrophysics at UCLA. He took a gap year in 2022 when he was awarded a Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship, giving him the opportunity to travel the world (including India, Sweden, Spain, Puerto Rico), honing his skills and recording. He shared, “Having traveled from India to Sweden, it’s amazing how easy it is to communicate with others through music, regardless of any language or cultural barriers.” These accomplishments are just a few highlights of an artist who recorded his first album at the age of 12, won the 2019 Youth Grand Master Fiddlers Championship in Nashville, Tennessee, the 2019 National Fiddle Contest Jr. Swing Division Championship in Weiser, Idaho, a nomination for the IBMA Instrumentalist award in 2021, and placed 4th in the 2023 Grand Master Fiddle Championship in Nashville. In addition, he teaches fiddle at the Manning Music School in Berkeley, California, and has taught jazz violin at Oaktown Jazz in Oakland, California.
Andrew studies Mechanical Engineering at California State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), where he plays sousaphone in the marching band and trombone in the wind ensemble.
Having begun his college career in Kansas, Ian recently moved back to California and transferred into the Visual Communication Design program at San Francisco State University. Aside from being the newest member of Crying Uncle Bluegrass, Ian stays busy playing gigs with other musicians in the Bay Area.
Teo is the only member of the band still in high school but intends to graduate a year early in 2024. He plans to attend college…if he can find time away from his award-winning activities! He holds first place in the 2018 Open Division California State Mandolin Picking Contest, is a two-time national fiddle champion in the Jr. Jr. Division in Weiser, Idaho, and the 2019 California State Fiddle Contest Champion in the Jr. Jr. Division. Teo plays guitar, mandolin, electric mandolin, and fiddle and teaches students of all ages to learn ukulele, guitar and mandolin.
All of these musicians have promising futures ahead whether in bluegrass music or their chosen field of study. They will most assuredly play a role in preserving bluegrass music for the next generation.
Miles commented, “We plan to continue as a band for as long as we can. I feel like we still have a lot of music and ideas to explore. Receiving the IBMA Momentum Band of the Year Award has inspired us to write more music and play more shows. We are gearing up for a good year of music.” In fact, they are planning their second tour of Japan and, hopefully, South Korea for Spring 2024 and will embark on another Danny Stewart Bluegrass Cruise in June, this time to Bermuda.
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Crying Uncle at: cryingunclebg.com
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