— Photos by Rob Grego
Reprinted from the Altamont Enterpise
Pictured above, left:
Jon McCartan, a native of Guilderland whose musical roots started with his high-school band, Pick, now plays with the Gordon Stone Band, based in Burlington, Vt., where McCartan is a student at the University of Vermont. Gordon Stone is a renowned banjo and pedal steel guitar musician with more than 30 years of experience. The band will play on Saturday at the 59th Annual Tulip Festival in downtown Albany.
Pictured above, right:
The Gordon Stone Band, a trio based in Burlington, Vt., will play a show in Albany on Saturday at the Tulip Festival. Bassist Jon McCartan, right, grew up in Guilderland and has been playing with the group for nearly two years. Gordon Stone, center, is an Emmy Award-winning banjo and pedal steel guitar instrumentalist and composer, and Caleb Bronz, left, has been playing drums with Stone for about four years.
For Jon McCartan, music is life.
The 21-year-old Guilderland native and University of Vermont student has spent the last two years playing bass with the Gordon Stone Band.
Stone is well-known as Vermont’s Emmy-Award winning banjo and pedal steel guitar instrumentalist. He has been playing for 30 years.
The Gordon Stone Band – Stone, McCartan, and Caleb Bronz on drums – will come to the Capital Region and play at the 59th Annual Tulip Festival on Saturday. They will play at the Ampitheatre Stage at 4:45 p.m.
“I’m really excited about this gig,” McCartan said of returning to his home turf. “I’m looking forward to a great show and a great day,” he said.
McCartan began playing bass 14 years ago, he recalled. When he was in about third or fourth grade, he was brought into the school music room, along with his classmates, and shown all of the instruments.
McCartan was wowed.
“I was always short, so I wanted to play the biggest instrument I could find,” McCartan said with a chuckle. He settled on the upright bass.
About 10 years ago, McCartan began playing electric bass, and played in the Guilderland band, Pick, with Matt Pickering and “a bunch of other Guilderland folks,” he said. He was in the band from 2001 until he graduated in 2003.
McCartan says the original music he plays with the Gordon Stone Band is hard to describe, and can’t easily be classified as any one genre. “It draws elements from bluegrass,” he said. “It has a swing funk to it.”
— Rachel Dutil
Reprinted from the Altamont Enterpise
snoedown 2006
Jon McCartan has been playing bass guitar for Vermont's Gordon Stone Band for since the summer of 2004. Combining bluegrass, jazz and funk rythms Jon's bass playing has made him one of Burlington's finest. Says Gabriela Kerson of Jambase after seeing Jon at snoedown 2006, "Stone has an uncanny ability to find great young bass players, and McCartan was no exception. Playing upright, his notes were sure and comforting. Amico had a big smile on his face."
Links
Gordon Stone Band
Caleb Bronz
Aram Bedrosian
Sean Preece
Valerie Perez - Beyond the Sail blog |
