Interview with
Mike Bentley
& Cumberland Gap Connection
Since 2003, the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival has presented amazing music from the finest artists in bluegrass such as James King, Michael Cleveland and Claire Lynch – and for the first time, this year JAM Live! recorded some of the fantastic performances for this radio show.
As in most musical genres, the bluegrass sound is coloured by the musicians’ personal life and their lives as professional musicians. We thought you would be interested in exploring with us some of this background.
So, who better than past producer of the bluegrass festival Steve Gedrose, to get together for a chat, with members of each of the five bands JAM Live! is featuring from this years festival. In this episode Steve is talking to Mike Bentley & Cumberland Gap Connection from Kentucky, a highly energetic bluegrass band with a sound all their own. The group strives to take their driving style of bluegrass to the next level with aggressive instrumentation mixed with a distinctive vocal harmony style.
Mike Bentley on lead vocals and guitar, Jeff Smith on bass, Matt Hiser on banjo, and Josh Brown on mandolin.
www.cumberlandgapconnection.com
We caught up with the band during the festival on June 13th, 2015 at the crowded St. Elias Convention Centre, in Haines Junction.
We would like to thank the Yukon Bluegrass Music Society for all their support.
Also a big thank you to Steve Gedrose who prepared and conducted the interview.