Double Barrel Darrel & Jeremiahs Run come together for roots music concert; Goshen College alumni power local and East Coast-based band

GOSHEN, Ind. – Two bands born out of area high school and college music jams – local group Double Barrel Darrel and the East Coast-based Jeremiahs Run – join for a showcase of American roots music at Goshen College at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, in the college’s Newcomer Center, located on the south edge of campus. Tickets, available at the door, are $5 for the general public and $2 for students.

Double Barrel Darrel band members Andrew Gerber, Phil Kaufman, Jay Lapp, Nate Mateer Rempel and Aaron Kingsley Sawatsky began playing together as a group in early 2001. Kaufman, Mateer Rempel and Kinglsey Sawatsky all attended Bethany Christian High School in the late 1980s and went on to Hesston (Kan.) College, where they played for college audiences there before several members joined up with Gerber when transferring to Goshen and continuing the jam.

Joined by Lapp, who attended GC for one year, the musicians soon began performing together in numerous local venues. DBD’s first self-released recording, “Nashville Made in China,” features songs penned by Kingsley Sawatsky that bring revelation to American life – from small towns to growing older to married life – with skillful instrumental innovation. Gerber and Kinglsey Sawatsky play guitar, with Lapp performing on guitar, mandolin and banjo; Kaufman plays bass with Mateer Rempel providing drum rhythm. Gerber, a Goshen-based luthier, provides harmonica and accordion highlights.

Mark Swier, who hosts an evening of “Crossings” on WGCS-FM, said the band “truly brings heart and soul to their work. Their collective influences are expansive and, as a unit, they pay respects to the whole great history of ‘people music’ that this country has to offer. During the course of a show, one experiences the diverse range of their repertoire – from thick, bluesy guitar riffs to deft mandolin-picking, from funky-twang to creative vocal harmonies and boot-scootin’ bass.”

Brett Sherman, a 1992 GC graduate, and Dan Thut, a Goshen native, will be joined by fellow Jeremiahs Run band members Keith and Brent Lyndaker for the Goshen College show. Named for a creek in southern Virginia, Jeremiahs Run was formed in 1997, though Sherman and Keith Lyndaker met in college while both were participating in a college study program in Washington, D.C. The band’s sound is rooted in the rich landscape of traditional American music and is influenced by such musical genres as folk, southern rock, country and the blues. Lyrically, the band’s material reflects everyday experiences and ordinary lives.

The Shepherdstown Chronicle says Jeremiahs Run has “a ‘make it new’ sound that reaches back into the past and brings American Roots music to the present.”

Keith Lyndaker, who sings lead vocals, plays acoustic guitar, harmonica and hammer dulcimer, is the main songwriter for the group. Sherman plays lead on both the acoustic and electric guitars and provides background vocals. He is also featured on the organ, mandolin, and pedal steel. Dan Thut provides bass and background vocals while Brent Lyndaker anchors the band with drums and percussion and also provides background vocals.

More information on Jeremiahs Run including new music and upcoming events can be found at the band’s Web site, http://www.jeremiahsrun.com/. To receive information about upcoming Double Barrel Darrel shows, e-mail mailto:dbdband@hotmail.com.

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