Pretend Friend Returns to Buzz Bomb

406 East Adams Street,Springfield IL 62701

03 November, 2022

Description

Pretend Friend is tight, right, genre-defying progressive bluegrass out of Wichita, Kansas. Releasing new music and touring since 2017, Pretend Friend sounds like the quick-pickin' offspring of Robert Plant and the Stanley Brothers. Their performances are high-energy, and each set is loaded with improv jams and harmonies. Pretend Friend is songwriter and guitarist Grant Boesen, Kansas champion mandolinist Evan Ogborn, bassist and sound engineer Brody Wellman, and banjoist Garrett Briggeman. "Pretend Friend respects tradition and its musical heritage while consistently breaking new ground. The combination of expert writing and outstanding musicianship places the band in rarified company—one of those bands that wows fellow musicians with its acumen and leaves everyone tapping their toes and singing along to songs that seem to have always been." Jedd Beaudoin | Host/Producer of Strange Currency KMUW (NPR), Wichita, KS