The Real Placebos
2,172 plays
14,359 views
14,359 views
Brandt Williams, Raffi Minasian and Steve Freeman are The Real Placebos. When started to play together and we really wanted to understand and play acoustic blues, ragtime and some of the old time standards. We all come from very different backgrounds in music, Brandt and Raffi studied classical music growing up and Steve is a rock and roll guy.
Somehow the mix seems to work and the result is some pretty lively music in the tradition of the acoustic blues from a period in our not too distant history.Have you performed in front of an audience?We play live at a local beer pub during the summer months and we've convinced several coffee shops in the area to trade music for caffinated beverages and tips. We are livin' the dream...
Your musical influences
We have pretty eclectic tastes and come from 2 pretty different guitar learning experiences. It's safe to say that our respective children don't necessarily like all of the things we play.
We are huge fans of the early Piedmont and Delta Blues players. Our current playlist has been motivated by the old guys Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake, Rev Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt. And some of the newer guys like Kenny Sultan, Mike Dowling, Paul Asbell, Jorma K and many others provide tons of inspiration.What equipment do you use?
Brandt's main guitars are a 2007 National El Trovador and 2004 Santa Cruz OM/PW and Steve currently plays a 2004 Martin OM 28V and a 2007 Martin D-18GE. Raffi has several violins but his preferred fiddle is a 1953 German made Strad copy.
We each have a mini collection of other instruments including a Martin New Yorker, a Bouzouki, a couple of mandolins, a vintage Harmony, 1920's 5 string banjo and other assorted stringed instruments. Oh and "the Pear"... (don't ask)
2,172 plays
14,359 views
14,359 views
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