Debutants

Debutants have evolved from a duo between longtime friends, Lynn Nicholson and Jon Swain, into a formidable string band with eclectic influences. What somehow manages to always come through loud and clear is the amount of fun they're having playing together, and the vibrant life breathed into their music. On their 2021 debut release, Indiana Newgrass - EP, Debutants went into the studio with banjoist Michael Earl Newsome, fiddle player Sean Hoffman (Goldmine Pickers, The Goat's Beards, Soltré), and bassist/vocalist Colin Taylor (Uncle Muscle, Hillbilly Casino). Also highly instrumental in capturing their original sound, was recording engineer and producer Tyler Thompson (Fruition, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, Jay Cobb Anderson) at his Studio 110 in Pittsburgh, PA. For their 2022 sophomore release, Nobody Knows - EP, the band unquestionably returned to Thompson's Studio 110, this time bringing Lauren Blair on fiddle/vocals, and Ellen Coplin on cello/vocals. Growth became evident on titles such as Nicholson's Hard to Say, along with increases in tempos and instrumental prowess demonstrated on pieces like Swain's Never Thought I'd Be the One. With the same lineup in 2023, the band tackled their first full-length album, River on the Moon. Nicholson and Swain were now joined by Hoffman and Taylor in songwriting. This release conveys their most ambitious and cohesive sound yet, in part due to recording all of it "live" circled together around a few microphones.