By Elisa Zuckerberg, founder of HearItThere.com
November 2, 2022
String Busters – Dan Bonis, Ed Spallina, Will Demers, Mat Kastner
STRING BUSTERS is an acoustic band that plays a wide range of musical styles, from blues and bluegrass to country, folk and more. Each seasoned musician in the band contributes to fresh interpretations of well-loved songs. The band also performs its own original songs.
It’s their foot-stomping style and diversity in both instruments and material that makes String Busters unique among more traditional acoustic bands. The band’s founding members, Dan Bonis, Will Demers and Mat Kastner, first got together at open mics and debuted at Bethel’s Earth Day celebration in 2017 as WMD, an acronym of their first names. Deciding that their individual musical sensibilities meshed, the Americana and bluegrass group ultimately added a bass player to pursue their love for the tunes that fill America’s early songbook, foot-tapping bluegrass classics and reimagined well-loved standards from the pop era.
With roots in classic Americana and bluegrass, String Busters sing and play their instruments – guitar, dobro, slide guitar, banjo, mandolin, even suitcase percussion – with high-energy.
“We are the happiest when the audience has as much fun as the band.” ~ Will Demers
Recently, the band signed on to Smokin’ Fish Records, an indie label that describes its catalog as filled with “lyric-driven songwriters, cool chanteuses and badass guitar players!” And they plan to hit the recording studio again soon to assemble a new set of cool tunes and perhaps bust a string or two.
Meet the band!
Dan Bonis is a multi-instrumentalist. He plays banjo, guitar, mandolin, dobro lap-steel and suitcase percussion. Constantly seeking out new musical adventures, Dan plays solo, as a sideman and in groups. As a solo performer, Dan Bonis has released two CDs, “Delivering the Cake” and “The Lost Green Valley.” For more than a decade, he was acclaimed singer-songwriter Terence Martin’s sideman.
Will Demers is lead singer, guitarist and mandolinist for String Busters. His musical roots go back to his college years when he and his songwriting partner Jeff Clapp entertained at a political campaign rally and formed a four-piece acoustic blues ensemble known as the Juke House Jumpers, playing at the legendary Stone Church in New Hampshire and other local venues. Later, in Europe as an ex-pat, Will played solo sets and as a duo in cafes throughout Italy and Germany. His original song, ”Armadillo Bar” won over judges at the Ridgefield Playhouse’s Battle of the Ages, giving his previous band, the Soggy Basement Boys, a first-place showing in the contest. He lives in Ridgefield.
Mat Kastner plays slide, bluegrass, other rootsy guitar styles and mandolin. A resident of Newtown, Connecticut, he also plunks with New Haven’s Washboard Slim and the Bluelights Jug Band, The Real Stormin’ Norman and Sweetcake Mountain Bluegrass. He’s played and recorded with groups and artists springing from the New Haven area, like The Morning, Milkweed, Randy Burns and the Skydog Band, Karen and the Pistons, The Homesick John O’Leary Band, the Phabulous Pheromones and the James Reid Band.
Ed Spallina is a highly respected upright bass player in the Connecticut/New York area. He also performs with the Sweetcake Mountain Bluegrass Band.
Come enjoy a FREE concert with String Busters LIVE on Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 pm at the Ridgefield Library.
Although the concert is FREE, space is limited. Therefore, early registration is recommended.
String Busters performed at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center in Putnam Valley on Saturday, October 1, 2022
Audio Links Studio sessions:
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Videos:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheStringBusters
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Contacts:
Will Demers – wademers@comcast.net
Mat Kastner – matkastner@aol.com
