Beartracks began as a trio in 2004. Legendary Dobro player Junior Barber convinced his cousins, Tom and Julie, to make the switch from playing traditional country music in clubs to playing bluegrass oriented material at festivals around the Northeast. The main focus of the group was the sibling vocal harmony of Tom and Julie and Junior’s unique stylist approach to playing resonator guitar. Although not a traditionally structured bluegrass group, the trio gained acceptance and a solid fan base at festivals throughout the Eastern US and in Canada from Calgary to PEI.
When illness forced Junior to retire in June of 2013, we added a banjo and fiddle to Beartracks, giving us a much more traditional sound. We have had some changes in musicians over the years. I am finding out that this is fairly normal in the bluegrass world. We grew up playing in a family band with our dad, mom and brother, so we were used to a continuity of players. However, we have been fortunate to have some very skilled musicians work with us and have found, as Junior told us a long time ago, that as long as we (Julie and Tom) are together, the backbone of Beartracks remains the same.
