Rusty Cleavers III

This West Coast band from the Tacoma, Washington area is made up of four musicians who come from a variety of backgrounds and who have formed together to produce their progressive sound based on bluegrass, but with modern touches of punk, jazz and folk. There is Luke Sumerfield, who is a pipe-organ maker with a degree in percussion and plays the washboard and tenor guitar. Forest Beutel is a music therapist and plays the banjo, resonator guitar, and harmonica. Kevin Shintaku is an elementary school teacher and plays mandolin and guitar. Zach Bernard, who works in lumber and plays bass. 

All the members share in lead and harmony vocals. The selections on this project are mostly originals from the band and includes “Ain’t No Way,” “That’s Why I Love You,” “Barbeque,” “ ’F Ya Want Me To,” “Change My Ways,” “Can’t Wait To Die,” “Ghost Town,” and there is the explicit “Son Of A ****.”  Instrumentals include “Yakima Ridge” and “Old Coyote Howl.” They also offer their own take on a couple of familiars like “This Train,” “Going Down The Road,” and “Dark As A Dungeon.” 

This band’s rough-and-tumble approach has produced fans all across their performing area with their interesting style of playing and singing. This is a good listen from the Rusty Cleavers.