Tim Weed and Mark Robertson-Tessi have found a unique sound by combining the banjo and mandolin.  While we're used to hearing these instruments together in bluegrass music, these guys are using them to make classical music instead.

Both Weed and Robertson-Tessi are highly versatile multi-instrumentalists with strong improvisational backgrounds from years of playing bluegrass and jazz.  They perform music together in several genres, but their classical duets are by far the most complex and intriguing of their collaborations.

Mark Robertson Tessi has a broad range of musical abilities.  In addition to mandolin, he plays bouzouki, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar, electric bass, piano, and organ.  In addition, he has won numerous mandolin and guitar champioinships including the National Flatpick Championships and three the Four Corner States Championships.  "He's an amazing improviser with an incredibly fast ear," says Weed. 

Weed is described as a musical innovator who traverses genres and defies boundaries.  A multi-instrumentalist on banjo, guitar and mandolin, his music is played on National Public Radio, and he has recorded banjo with the Dave Matthews Band and performed for the Dalai Lama.

Weed began his professional career as a teen prodigy on banjo, playing and singing with some of the most influential musicians in bluegrass music.  In his twenties he put the banjo aside and focused on the guitar for 15 years.  "When I finally picked up the banjo again, I was as surprised as anyone else to find classical music pouring out of it," he says.  For the next few years he focused on playing, composing, and recording his own banjo music.  He has received international acclaim for Milagros, his collection of these banjo works.  All of the compositions are original, and he is now recognized as one of the great innovators on the instrument. 

He recently switched to the name 'Tim Weed' instead of his legal name, Tim Wiedenkeller.  He laughs and says, "My friends like to joke about how playing classical banjo music with a name like Wiedenkeller is the perfect recipe for obscurity.  'Tim Weed' sticks with people much more easily."

Photos
Press-quality photos are available at www.timweed.com/presskit.html.

More information
Visit www.timweed.com for information, live performance videos, and music samples.

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