Beartrap 2011

The 2011 Beartrap Summer Festival has gone to the dogs! Well, maybe not entirely. But there sure are a lot this year! All kinds of dogs. Labs, German Shepards, whatever kind of dog Beethoven is, Bulldogs, Shitzus; ya know, I wonder what would happen if you bred a Bulldog with a Shitzu...

Don't let the name fool you, The 23 String Band ain't no classical orchestra. Combining all sorts of different stringed instruments, 23 also has some very unique voices that adds to this very one of a kind folk-esque band.

Summoning the spirit of She and Him, Johnny Cash and June, Regina Spektor, The Weepies, and others, Haunted Windchimes most certainly left their mark on Beartrap Summer Festival 2011.

As his namesake might suggest, The Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn Band took the crowd at Beartrap Summer Festival 2011 to church on Saturday.

The Dang Ol' Boys have hit the stage at Beartrap Summer Festival '11 and, as always, they have rocked said stage.

For a bunch of young guys from the hills of the South, traveling to the mountains of the West holds a lot of appeal.

At first blush, the musical territory known as Acoustic Bluegrass Country Irish Punk Rock Fusion would seem a fairly rarefied one. But the eight-member assemblage known as the Dang Ol' Boys somehow make it seem as comfortable as a lawn chair beside a campfire.

The origin of their name remains shrouded in mystery: obviously, the members of the 23 String Band play more strings than that onstage. But the type of music they play is unmistakable. They describe it as “Original Hillbilly.” Which would be true, if the original hillbillies had listened to Paganini and the Beastie Boys.

"There ain't much to see in a small town, but what you hear sure makes up for it" is the old adage.  In Ten Sleep WY population 307, what you'll hear - more often than not - is a clanky old banjo ricocheting off the storefronts and buttes, like a renegade ...