This week’s featured musical act is Treeline String Band, a brand new group formed in the heart of Boulder. They performed live for the first time ever on Friday, June 18, 2021, at the Salto Coffee Works in Nederland.

Their chemistry was electric in each song. Every member of the band contributes vocals, and each one plays a different instrument: Tom Plant on banjo, Steve Remmert on mandolin, Scott Midler on guitar, Katy Buckbee on fiddle, Dolores Berbaum on bass, and Annie Sirotniak on fiddle and mandolin. All of these performers seemed completely relaxed and engaged with the crowd as they performed various bluegrass covers and original songs.

For the band members, there’s a sense of familiarity in both the music and their camaraderie. Speaking with Berbaum revealed that while not all of the members met each other at the same time, most of them had been friends for years, with Berbaum, Plant, and Sirotniak having formed their own band prior to the formation of Treeline.

The six members focus on bluegrass, a genre that often has similar chord progressions that make even new songs feel familiar. This musical quality matched the band’s group dynamic. It’s a genre that’s easy to learn individually, so much so that during quarantine, they each practiced specific versions of songs on their own before playing them together for the first time in February.

The connection the band members have with each other and to their music creates a fun, familiar bluegrass experience that we hope we will see again in an official show soon.

In the meantime, you can catch them playing casually on Wednesdays in the Adventure Lodge, 91 Fourmile Canyon Drive, Boulder.