In the remarkably vibrant world of bluegrass music in the Northeast, the members of Sheriff and the Deputies are standouts for the energy and talent they bring to every performance.
The band leader, “Sheriff Uncle Bob,” (aka Bob Saidenberg) (vocals and dobro) has been part of the Greenwich Village folk scene since 1960, sharing the stage at the Gaslight Cafe with poets Wavy Gravy and Gregory Corso. He has led numerous bands, produced several music festivals (Sheriff Sessions and Gaslight Revival in NY and Moonslash in Anguilla, BWI), has had a radio program on WNYC and is the host of the Wednesday night Goodtime Bluegrass Jam now enjoying its 16th year and sixth venue at Randolph Beer in Soho. Sheriff and the Deputies welcome all bluegrass fans and players to their Wednesday night jams.
Brooklyn-based Elio Schiavo (mandolin and vocals) is without question one of the best and most engaging mandolin players anywhere. In 2007, Elio started the New York-based bluegrass band The Six Deadly Venoms. In addition to serving as the principal songwriter, mandolinist, and manager for the group, Schiavo produced, recorded, mixed, and released the Venoms’ two albums. The group toured nationally for four years and most recent highlights include a standout performance at the 2013 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival as well as being named a finalist in the 2013 Fresh Grass awards.
More recently, Elio is in active production for his new album, “After the Fall.” For that album Schiavo has enlisted A-list players Brittany Haas (Crooked Still), Ross Martin (Matt Flinner Trio), Billy Cardine (Jerry Douglas, John Paul Jones), James Genus (Daft Punk, Herbie Hancock, Saturday Night Live Band), and many more to bring his new brand of roots music to a wider audience. The album is slated for release in May of 2014 and a US tour will follow this summer.
Trip Henderson (Harmonica and Vocals) is a master harmonica player who performs American folk and vernacular music in all its many forms. Blues, Appalachian fiddle tunes, old-time country, bluegrass, honky-tonk, and Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco are just a few of the various different styles Trip plays and teaches.
Over the years, Trip has had the privilege and honor of performing and recording with the likes of Otis Rush, Bruce Springsteen, Sonny Burgess, John Sebastian, The Sun Records Rhythm Section (the band of the King himself), and Bo Diddley. He’s also shared the stage and recording studio with blues legends BB King, Homesick James, Honey Boy Edwards, Pinetop Perkins, and John Hammond, as well as stellar bluegrass and folk artists like Hazel Dickens, Tom Paxton and the late great John Herald. In addition, he’s appeared on soundtracks for both film and television.
After living and performing in the South for many years, Trip has moved back north to New York City and is active in the vibrant old-time, bluegrass, country, and blues scenes here in the Big Apple. He now regularly plays with The Whistling Wolves, a group that features lots of great harmony singing and tasty arrangements as well as a variety of different bands and performers throughout the area.
Bob Abrahams (guitar, vocals) began his professional music career when he was 15, nearly four decades ago. By the time he was 21, he was an active studio and touring musician, playing lead guitar and writing for artists like Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman, (“Custer Died for your Sins”) and Jimmy Curtis (“Child of Clay”). He has performed live and in the studio with artists like Buffy St. Marie and Dizzy Gillespie, and scored several nationally televised films.
More recently, squeezing time from his career as lawyer, Bob plays with several bands in the area, including long-time bluegrass band “The Lineman.”
Ellery Marshall (banjo, vocals) is an extraordinarily talented instrumentalist who just a few years ago switched from drummer to banjo player, playing with, among others, Gangstagrass and The Birdhive Boys. Just recently, the Birdhive Boys were showcased at the Joe Val Festival — the premier bluegrass festival held every year in Massachusetts.
