Allison De Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves with The Moon Shells

Allison de Groot draws on a love for old-time and traditional music, and with a creative approach to the banjo, has formed her own sound – unique and full of personality.

Her collaborations with Tatiana Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky’s trio Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, The Goodbye Girls and Nic Gareiss provide spaces to explore the role and dimensions of clawhammer banjo. She has performed at events such as Newport Folk Festival, Celtic Connections, Rockygrass, Hardly Strictly, Winnipeg Folk Festival & Tønder Festival.

Over the past decade, Tatiana Hargreaves has been on the forefront of an up and coming generation of old time, bluegrass and new acoustic musicians. From placing first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis’ GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease. She has toured with musicians such as Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Laurie Lewis, Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky and Jake Blount. She currently tours with banjo extraordinaire Allison de Groot and teaches bluegrass fiddle at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

The Moon Shells—Maggie Shar, Brian Slattery, Laura Murawski, Molly Merrett, and Charlie Shaw—draw from the traditional music of Appalachia, Louisiana, West Africa and elsewhere to try to make something new. Whether performing as an acoustic stringband, a stripped-down trio, or a five-piece making modern sounds on traditional instruments at clubs and festivals, the Moon Shells move hearts and feet.

In 2019 they released two albums—Seaside Asylum, an album of original songs and tunes, and Screech Plank, an album of more traditional fiddle tunes. Their next album of original songs, House of Air, came out in 2020. In 2021 they released two more albums—Earth, an album of original songs and tunes, and Screech Plank II, an album of tunes written by contemporary, living traditional musicians.