| Dick Kimmel - vocals,
guitar, mandolin, and clawhammer banjo Jerilyn Kjellberg - vocals Tim O'Connor - banjo, guitar, and vocals Bruce Bernhart - mandolin Lee Folta - bass  DICK KIMMEL began playing old-time country and bluegrass music in the mid-1950's, singing brothers-era duets with his brother, Charles. By the early 1960's he had his first bluegrass band, a group of high school friends called, "The Bluegrass Ramblers." A decade later Dick, playing guitar and banjo, was touring with the West Virginia-based band, "Keen, Kimmel & Co." Dick describes the 1970's as the beginning of his serious involvement with bluegrass music - performing with artists like Del McCoury, Hazel Dickens, Andy Boarman, and Dwight Diller and recording his first LP's. Over the past three decades, Dick Kimmel has made more than two-dozen recordings and performed extensively on an international basis most frequently with Dick Kimmel & Co. DICK KIMMEL & CO is a bluegrass band based in southern Minnesota. On-stage, Dick and the talented musicians who make up this band present an entertaining and educational bluegrass music variety show. Kimmel & Co bands have performed bluegrass music throughout North America and Europe for more than 30 years. The latest Dick Kimmel & Co recordings include cuts on various compilation recordings in the US and Europe and a 2005 all-bluegrass-gospel collection entitled, "Dick Kimmel & Co - My Lord Keeps a Record" (Copper Creek Records 0240). Dick Kimmel's most recent recordings are 7 highly-acclaimed CDs for Copper Creek Records, a Roanoke, Virginia bluegrass label. The latest CD, released in May 2007 along with Dick Kimmel & Co vocalist, Jerilyn Kjellberg, is "Dick Kimmel & Jerilyn Kjellberg - Somebody Loves You Darlin'" (Copper Creek Records CCCD-0245). Reviews have been excellent. For the December 2007 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, Steve Goldfield writes, "Dick Kimmel and Jerilyn Kjellberg are a marvelous addition to this (duet singing) tradition...(they) braid their voices together into a deliciously rich harmony." Eberhardt Finke, of Bluegrass Buhne (Germany)(August/September 2007), writes, "Everything is tasteful, well-played, and simply wonderful to listen to again and again." (See News Releases on this website for more reviews and information.) Each performance
by Dick Kimmel & Co includes a variety of traditional styles:
driving bluegrass songs, warm ballads, traditional bluegrass gospel
songs, original songs that seem like classics, 1930's styled duets, and
old-time stringband classics. Some of Dick Kimmel &
Co's performances include: IBMA's World of Bluegrass/Fanfest
(Nashville, TN), Chippewa Valley Gospel Bluegrass Festival (Bruce, WI),
Bismarck (ND) Bluegrass Festival, Martin Luther College (New Ulm, MN),
Spencer Bluegrass Festival (Spencer, IA), European World of Bluegrass
(Holland), Missouri River Bluegrass Festival (Washburn, ND), Carl May
Festival (Germany), The Guildtown Bluegrass Festival (Guildtown,
Scotland), The Opryland Hotel (Nashville, TN), Beartrap Summer Festival
(Casper, WY); Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival
(Richmond, MN), and The Black Hills Bluegrass Festival (Sturgis, SD). Comments About This Band:
"...wonderfully
blended vocal harmonies and instrumentation" "Tops in
bluegrass -
internationally traveled" "...a franchise
in
traditional bluegrass entertainment." "They played at
the Copper Grid in Madison, Wisconsin, to a standing room only crowd of
bluegrass fans...the band played and sang hard driving, straight
forward bluegrass music liberally sprinkled with stories and
laugher...After two encores, the crowd reluctantly let them close the
show." "Your superbly
exciting blend of traditional bluegrass music, performed with
dedication and authenticity, struck home to the hearts of our
audiences." DICK KIMMEL has been performing bluegrass music since the 1950's. Bluegrass Unlimited (August 2005) notes, "Dick Kimmel is a well-known and long-respected multi-instrumentalist and bandleader on both the bluegrass and old-time music scene." Rambles (July 23, 2005) says, "Dick Kimmel (is) a leading figure on the national and international bluegrass scene." While living in West Virginia during the 1960's and 1970's, Dick performed with many great bluegrass and old-time musicians including Del McCoury, Dwight Diller, Hazel Dickens, and Andy Boarman. Many bands and musicians Dick recorded with during this period are included on his 1996 Copper Creek release, "Dick Kimmel - 25 Year Collection" (Copper Creek Records CD-0143). "Kimmel & Co" has been part of Dick's band identity since the early 1970's, when he performed with the West Virginia-based "Keen, Kimmel & Co." Dick was proclaimed "West Virginia Ambassador of Good Will" by the West Virginia Legislature in 1978; earning the title for his "tireless promotion of the music of this state through performances, recordings, lectures, workshops, and coordination of bluegrass events." This title was expanded to "The Ambassador of Bluegrass," in a 1994 feature article for Bluegrass Unlimited, because of his varied involvements with bluegrass music on an international level. Beside being a performer, songwriter, and recording artist; Dick has written hundreds of articles and reviews for many publications such as Bluegrass Unlimited, Pickin', Inside Bluegrass, Goldenseal, and Banjo Newsletter. For 15 years Dick served as the Chair for IBMA's International Committee and he has coordinated entertainment for many festivals throughout the US. Following a 1993 solo concert by Dick Kimmel at Scotland's Guildtown Bluegrass Festival, Scottish bluegrass promoter, John Sheldon, wrote, "Your performance was the highlight of the main concert and the audience was totally captivated and enthralled by your great selection of songs and instrumentals. Your programme gave us a wonderful combination of soulful singing combined with multi-instrumental talent with a thoughtful blend of traditional and original bluegrass interspersed with marvelous old time material." For more information on Dick Kimmel, visit: http://www.newulmtel.net/~kimmel
For more information on the duo, Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger, visit: http://www.newulmtel.net/~kimmel/granger.html JERILYN KJELLBERG joined Dick Kimmel & Co on
vocals in 2002. The 2005 program for the Minnesota Bluegrass and
Old-Time Music Festival referred to her "stellar vocals." A
comment from the 2005 Black Duck Bluegrass Festival was that, "Jerilyn
Kjellberg has a voice that brings a tear to your eye." For Inside
Bluegrass, Len Kalakian writes: "Here is a voice that
deserves to be heard...her voice and vocal styling have a quality about
it that makes it memorable...For Jerilyn, singing is so natural; it
appears not so much as a thing that she does as much as it is a
place where she goes." TIM O'CONNOR has been playing 5-string banjo and guitar for more than 40 years. This Renville, Minnesota musician relates, "Way back there somewhere, I picked up a ukelele that belonged to my brother, learned to play it, and was hooked on acoustic music for life!" He discovered 5-string banjo during the 1960's folk revival. When Tim first heard a recording of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, bluegrass became his music of choice. His banjo playing is described as Scruggs style with a melodic touch. He has been performing with Dick Kimmel & Co since 2001 and is featured on banjo, guitar, and lead and harmony vocals on DKC's 2005 recording, "Dick Kimmel & Co - My Lord Keeps A Record." LEE FOLTA relocated to Minnesota from Texas in 2007 and joined Dick Kimmel & Co on bass. Originally from central Kentucky, Lee was strongly influenced by the abundance of bluegrass found in bluegrass music's heartland. He began playing guitar in the mid-1960's. In Texas, he played bass for eight years with "The Bluegrass Solution," a Houston-based band known throughout the southeastern US for original material and excellent bluegrass music. Lee's bass playing is strongly influenced by his rare and powerful 1938 Kay 5-string bass. BRUCE BERNHART has played mandolin in numerous bluegrass bands for more than 2 decades. His mandolin playing is a powerhouse adding rhythm and excitement to any band. He joined Dick Kimmel & Co in 2007. For 15 years, he performed with String Fever, a Minnesota-based bluegrass band. Bruce has also played mandolin with bluegrass/country singer, Lorene Clark, at bluegrass and country music events throughout the upper midwest. In addition to playing mandolin, Bruce adds the bass vocals to Dick Kimmel & Co's gospel quartets. Available Recordings:
 Dick Kimmel & Jerilyn Kjellberg - Somebody
Loves
You Darlin'Copper Creek Records CCCD-0245 Most recent Dick Kimmel CD - Released in April 2007 |
