Crooked Still

Neo-bluegrass outfit Crooked Still unites four players whose individual résumés already span elite training, academic distinction, and frequent sideman work. Aoife O'Donovan, who earned her diploma from the New England Conservatory and also sings with the Wayfaring Strangers, handles lead vocals. Rushad Eggleston, the first string player awarded a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, contributes cello while maintaining parallel commitments to Fiddlers 4, Darol Anger's American Fiddle Ensemble, and his own Wild Band of Snee. Greg Liszt, then a biology Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plays banjo and additionally performs with both the Wayfaring Strangers and the Jake Armerding Band. Corey DiMario rounds out the quartet on double bass; he belongs to the Lissa Schneckenburger Band and has appeared with Liz Carroll and McCoy Tyner in leading concert halls across the country. The four musicians first convened under the Crooked Still name in September 2001 after O'Donovan received an invitation to put together an informal program at the New England Conservatory. Regional audiences in New England gradually embraced the project, which yielded the debut album Hop High in February 2005. One year later came the follow-up release, Shaken by a Low Sound.