A Little Bit of History
| The Hand Me Downs came together for their first performance at Earl Bales Park in 2011 as part of the City of Toronto “Under the Stars” music series. Bassist Shelley Miller, banjo player Howie Shiffman and guitarist Al Charney had already appeared in previous versions of The Hand Me Downs, but never at the same time. When they did finally put their strings and voices together, they were hooked. Moving forward, various mandolin and fiddle players came and went, with the band performing around Toronto in coffee houses, bars, festivals, and concert venues. Developing their harmony style, the band moved beyond traditional bluegrass into Newgrass, Bluegrass’s modern sibling, as well as country, folk and swing. Around 2015, guitarist and mandolin player Jeff Cohen began sitting in occasionally, but as time went on it became clear that Jeff was the fourth person the original three had long awaited. There was still one more part to the building of the 'bluegrass sound'....a fiddler that fits....and then there was Phil Coonce. The group was now complete! The Hand Me Downs welcome you on a brief journey through some of their favourite tunes; please sing along! |