Full Cord returns to The Alluvion! Get your tickets quick for this one! When it comes to movers and shakers in the bluegrass world, Full Cord is a super-group on the rise.

Billy Strings had this to say: "Sometime in 2011, I moved away from my hometown of Ionia and headed up to Traverse City to see what kind of trouble I could find. I was excited to make some new friends and meet some of the local pickers in the area, but I didn’t know I was walking into the inferno. At that first get-together, I met Paul Kirchner, who is a great banjo player and a walking encyclopedia of all things bluegrass. I ended up hanging out with the Kirchners and their extended musical family quite a bit, we hit it off pretty quickly. Playing bluegrass music into the wee hours of the morning with them at bluegrass festivals across the region was a common occurrence. These fellas know some great tunes. It’s such a blast to make music with them, and it’s exciting to see what they’ve been up to over the last few years. I’ve noticed Full Cord ignite with the additions of fiddle maestro Grant Flick, and rock-solid vocals, repertoire, and mandolin mastery of Brian Oberlin. The first play-through of their album made me want to grab my axe, drive up North, meet up with these guys, and jam till tomorrow morning like we’ve done so many times before. I don’t need to though, because songs on this record transport me back home.

After winning the prestigious 2022 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition in Colorado, the Michigan-based group followed that with another much-coveted honor when the International Bluegrass Music Association named Full Cord its “Momentum Award Band of the Year.” While mandolinist Brian Oberlin notes the band’s music “is new and fresh to the ears of seasoned bluegrass fans,” the bluegrass traditions in Full Cord have deep roots. The group’s members – Oberlin, guitarist Eric Langejans, bassist Todd Kirchner and fiddler Grant Flick – boast decades of musical artistry, with experience in popular performing bands from Michigan to Oregon. And with the recent addition of award-winning, George Guthrie filling in on banjo, Full Cord is poised to take the next step in its journey as a bluegrass powerhouse – ready to follow in the footsteps of fellow Michigan bluegrass icons Billy Strings and Greensky Bluegrass as yet another star in the making.

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