hello

Eric Wright, a founding member of the Juno winning The Fretless,  is the guest. Their latest album is called Open House.

The Fretless is Trent Freeman (Fiddle/Viola), Karrnnel Sawitsky (Fiddle/Viola), BenPlotnick(Fiddle/Viola), and Eric Wright (Cello).

Open House is a 10 song vocal collaboration album and the first project that The Fretless feature vocals on all the tracks and in such a prominent role.  They teamed up with Dan Mangan for a spin on his single “Troubled Mind“. Up next was Celeigh Cardinal featured on a version of William Prince’s “Earthly Days“, Nuela Charles on a gorgeous rendition of “Stay“. And most recently The Bros. Landreth on a version of their song “Let It Lie”  and 6 more artists.

Outreach and inspiring the next generation of string players is very much a part of The Fretless ’ethos. They continue to support numerous fiddle camps, masterclass’ and workshops around the world, not only as instructors but as mentors. Over the past few years, they have connected with notable organizations such as the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the Luxembourg Youth Orchestra, creating and performing full orchestral arrangements of Fretless tunes.

Eric says the Fretless are modern folk. To the ear, they sound like a rock band with violins, violas, and Eric on cello.  They happily share their creative space with other artists.

I’ve chosen four to talk about and play

• Dan Mangan – Troubled Mind
• Celeigh Cardinal – Earthly Days
• Nuela Charles  – Stay
• The Bros Landreth – Let it lie