Bluegrass duo swings into Brigham City for music series
Bluegrass duo Jake and Rebekah Workman
Bluegrass duo Jake and Rebekah Workman
Playing for the first time at the Music in the City concert is husband and wife duo Jake and Rebekah Workman.
The bluegrass pair, from Draper, said they are excited to play music for the intimate audience on Nov. 21 in Brigham City.
Jake Workman, who is known for his incredibly fast flatpicking, also plays the banjo and mandolin, and said the crowd can expect all the bluegrass standards at the concert.
“It’s going to be primarily a bluegrass sound, we’ll do some instrumentals and we’ll do some vocal tunes,” Workman said, adding that some of the original tunes are from previous albums, and some are from a new album in the works.
“A bunch of standard traditional bluegrass, or traditional instrumentals and I’ll be switching around from guitar, banjo and mandolin, and Rebekah will be on the fiddle most of that time, it should be fun.”
Jake Workman said the setlist will be an eclectic mix of Irish and Southern swing music in addition to the bluegrass. He said he is looking forward to coming up to Brigham City Fine Arts Center for the first time.
“I think we might play better when we’ve got a crowd that’s into it and more intimate like that,” he said. “I think you kind of feed off that and maybe even play a little better, but its hard to say. We would definitely prefer that to a big non-existent crowd.”
Rebekah Workman, a fiddle champion since youth, said she likes to interact with the crowd during shows. The couple typically plays once or twice a month at the Silver Star Cafe in Park City.
“I think it’s awesome that it’s going to be an intimate crowd,” she said. “I feel like always really fun to interact, and it’s always easier to do that with a smaller crowd, so we’re excited.”
As for the newest album coming from the duo, Jake Workman said it will sound like a full band, although in reality it will only feature him playing the mandolin, guitar and banjo and the fiddle work from Rebekah Workman with an additional bass player.
When they’re not playing with their other bands, the couple keeps the name and format simple, focusing on the music and relationship.
“We do play in other bands, but in the two-piece format the name is pretty boring I guess,” Jake Workman said, laughing. “We just go by Jake and Rebekah Workman, we don’t really have a duo name. We play in a band called Driven, we play in a band called Bluegrass Rising, and we play with Cold Creek.”
Writing songs and relying on each other to fill in parts comes naturally to the duo. Rebekah Workman said it was “awesome” being in several musical groups with her life partner.
“I love that I can depend on Jake, and I feel like since we’ve been playing for so long, we can read each other’s language, and know how to fill in where the other person wants us to,” she said. “I feel like it’s super easy playing against Jake. And so for me, I think it’s all positive.”
Jake Workman agreed, and said the logistics of being in a band with someone you live with makes everything easier.
“We hop in the car and go play and come back home and we have a blast while we’re doing it,” he said. “We both have kind of the same ear when it comes to how we play music, so we play in a similar style and compliment each other really well.”
That same ear comes in handy when the duo is writing songs for this new album, currently unnamed. When writing songs together, Jake Workman said it’s both a collaborative and solo effort.
“I think that usually it’s one of us coming up with an initial idea, and from there we can both help each other write it,” Jake Workman said. “But it’s hard to force writing, so sometimes stuff just has to come to you, or come to you by accident then you make it something cool and develop it together. We’re really excited about this new album coming out, there’s some good things on there and we wish we already had it done.”
Those who are eager to hear new material from Jake and Rebekah Workman can see the duo live at the Music in the City concert series, or check out the Driven website for updates from the couple.
Contact reporter Raychel Johnson at 801-625-4279 or rajohnson@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter @raychelNEWS.
PREVIEW
- WHAT: Jake & Rebekah Workman
- WHEN: 7 p.m. Nov. 21
- WHERE: Brigham City Fine Arts Center, 58 S. Main St., Brigham City
- TICKETS: $10/g.a., $7/students; www.bcfineartscenter.org; information, 435-723-0740
