When the 3 of us get together to rehearse, we start off with really good intentions about running through the list of songs we’re going to play, trying to work through the arrangements so we have a really tight set of songs when we are ready to perform.  However; no matter how hard we try, it all ends up with someone saying “Hey, do you know this tune…?” And as soon as that happens, we’re off on tangents trying different songs we’ve never played and rehearsal comes off the rails!  

Ed will suggest some random old version of a bluegrass song.  Gerard will share an original he wrote or Alan will do some version of an obscure Guy Clark song.  While this seeming lack of focus should mean that we aren’t using our rehearsal time wisely, the opposite is true.  That’s when the magic happens as it causes us to get outside of ourselves and try different things.  Maybe Ed will pull out one of the vast array of acoustic instruments or Alan will try to add some nuanced slide and Gerard might see how some flute would work on the song.  Just 3 old guys at play…it’s awesome.  

In the final analysis, we ended up with another song and arrangement in the setlist that we had no idea we were going to try.  Americana and good country/folk music lends itself to that and it’s what makes what we do so satisfyingly fun.  

We may make some mistakes, and we may have an occasional clunker but when you see the Accidental Brothers, you will see three musicians at play, having more fun than guys our age should be having and doing the music that we truly love.  

All the best and we’ll see you at a show in the near future!

Alan, Ed & Gerard