Trampled By Turtles

Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, Trampled by Turtles (TBT) is an original, non-traditional bluegrass band whose raucous live performances put a unique spin on the genre, tweaking the tradition with their own mix of punk, alt-country, rock and pop.

“We enjoy traditional bluegrass but we all grew up immersed in rock ‘n roll and I think our band reflects those qualities,” lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Simonett says.

Throughout the past four years TBT has toured the country, performing everywhere from punk-rock basement parties to such storied venues as the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and the Bowery Ballroom in New York. And the band’s diverse musicality has struck a chord among their peers who have asked the band to join them onstage, including Low, Camper Van Beethoven, Pedro the Lion, Nickel Creek, Cracker, The Bottle Rockets, Ike Reilly, and others.

Minneapolis alternative weekly City Pages has applauded the band’s live performance, writing: “Trampled by Turtles play a fast, stomping bluegrass that inverts the normal poses of audience and band. The Turtles mainly sit down to rock out, while their fans stand up, jump around, and fill out the empty floor space in front of the stage all the way to bar close.”

Trampled by Turtles have recently released Trouble, their third studio album. The Minneapolis/St. Paul publication Pulse of the Twin Cities states "this year's Trouble features some of their best work yet." And goes on to say "the disc alternates between sweet country crooners and breakneck barn burners, and it's everything you'd expect from a group who is mastering the art of balancing between traditional and groundbreaking string-based music."