Reunited D-Rangers returning with mutant bluegrass music

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Winnipeg mutant bluegrass band the D-Rangers are glad to be back after a seven year hiatus.D Rangers’  banjo player/ vocalist Jaxon Haldane playing the saw with Gordie Tentrees. Photo by Richard Amery
 They return to Lethbridge to play the Slice, April 28 with Okay Mann and Post Script.


“We’re an existing band now and we‘re very excited about it,” said D-Rangers‘ mandolinist/vocalist Aaron Goss, who is glad to be back with band mates, vocalist and banjo / saw player Jaxon Haldane, muck-bucket bassist/vocalist Tom“Twisty” Fodey, guitarist Chris Saywell and fiddler Don Zueff.


“Jaxon was in school in Oklahoma, but he graduated. He has nothing tying him there anymore, so he’s back in Winnipeg,” Goss said.
“ We never intended to take a seven year hiatus. But we played three reunion shows in Winnipeg, Kenora and  Gimli which were successful,” he said.
“We played The Times Changed  and people were lined up around the block, two hours before the show, so that was really reassuring,” he continued.

 The D-Rangers released their self titled  debut CD in 2001, the followup “We Stay High and Lonesome in 2004 on Fred Eaglesmith’s record label and “Paw Paw patch” in  2006, which all drew critical acclaim.


They are working on new music, drawing on their own personal musical experiences during the hiatus.
“I was playing electric mandolin in a punk band, Chris was in a hard rock band, Twisty plays in like every band in Winnipeg and Jaxon had his solo project  in Oklahoma and was playing a lot with Gordie Tentrees,” Goss related.


“We have had all of these different musical projects, so we haven’t lost anything, we’ve broadened our musical palettes. I’m a more precise mandolin player now. I’ve definitely upped my game,” continued Goss, who has been sober forthe past five years.

They have been known to add covers of songs from bands like the Dead Kennedys and have added others.


“We‘re playing a Devo cover. We never would have tried it before, but we’re better musicians now,” he said.


They are working on new music which they hope to release next year.


“It will be on Big White Cloud records, which focuses on Alberta and Saskatchewan musicians.We passed Dollartone (their own record label) on to our manager Shawna Cooper,” he said.
The tour, including Lethbridge, also includes stops in Saskatoon, Vermillion,Calgary and Turner Valley.
The D-Rangers play the Slice, Friday, April 29 with Okay Mann and PostScript.

— By Richard Amery,L.A. Beat Editor
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