The Bagboys Traditional & Original Bluegrass & Western Swing
Gretchen Bowder
Harvey Bag
Frank Drake
Jon Ross

Photo: Georgia Bowder-Newton

THE BAGBOYS!

For over 25 years Boston's Bagboys dazzled music-loving audiences from festival, concert, and nightclub stages all throughout New England with their irresistible, from-the-heart acoustic string music. Founder Harvey Bag anchored the Bagboys with his bass and occasional guitar, and sang with the dusty soul of a cowboy fresh off the cattle drive. Frank Drake, singing and variously displaying his prowess on guitar, mandolin, and bass, was a longtime, well-known Boston music scene stalwart. Both Frank and Harvey kept the band well stocked with their original compositions, all of which were bonafide brand-new-old-time songs and future americana classics. Gretchen Bowder sang and was a respected practitioner of the five-string banjo, and took her turn on guitar too. Gretchen shared with the Bagboys her love and appreciation of a variety of classic and lesser-known material, ranging from Appalachian melodies to favorites of the great American songbook and bossa nova. Jon Ross brought to the Bagboys his lifetime of wide musical experience, played all around the world. A typical performance kept Jon busy switching from mandolin to dobro to guitar to bass, and singing, too. Singing, swinging, or taking it down to the old home place, the Bagboys brought warmth, humor, honesty, and musical excellence to each and every show.

"Local legends the Bagboys were creating Americana long before the genre had a website and an army of preened publicists."

— Nashville songwriter Paul Burch

"The Bagboys have infectious energy, friendly voices, consistently pleasing picking, and a nice way with presenting popular but not overdone favorites. But what is especially appealing about this ensemble is that they can write great original material, and by Elsie, they do!"

— Bluegrass Unlimited

"I love this band. They are somewhat reminiscent of the Austin Lounge Lizards, Riders in the Sky or the Red Clay Ramblers. But don't let their over-the-top humor fool you; this is a band of serious, talented, and historically knowledgeable musicians. While they are capable of some pretty convincing genre hopping — moving easily from solid driving bluegrass to bouncy Western swing to contemporary folk — they're not content with merely aping these traditions but inhabit them as living, contemporary forms."

— Freight Train Boogie

Past Members & Collaborators

Many superb players have worked with the Bagboys. We don't have room to list everyone who has sat in with us over the years (although we'd like to!) but some past members and frequent past collaborators have included:

Guitar

Fiddle

Dobro

Banjo

Percussion

  • John Payne

★ Nicky Sanders — Steep Canyon Rangers
★ Andy Hall, Chris Pandolfi — The Stringdusters