Photo by Rick Davidson
Born in the small town of Marton, New Zealand, Catherine "BB" Bowness spent her early years working and living in her family's Fish-and-Chip shop. Although an unlikely origin for a bluegrass banjo player, New Zealand would offer BB her first introduction to the instrument, sparking a lifelong love and fascination. A world away from the heart of bluegrass, BB spent much of her childhood teaching herself the instrument, and through dedication and tenacity became New Zealand School of Music's first banjo student. Inspired by her New Zealand predecessors, The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, BB was always drawn to the five-piece full band, and after heading to America in 2012 she co-founded her current group, Mile Twelve. Immersing herself in the traditions of bluegrass and having studied jazz performance at university, BB's banjo playing is an exciting synthesis of new and old ideas. "She demonstrates a command of the instrument, and plays with great rhythmic clarity both in the traditional and progressive realms. J.D. Crowe co-mingles with the future," says Tony Trischka. Her euphoric energy and love of the genre are readily apparent in any of her live performances.
Currently, BB lives in Cambridge, MA. Mile Twelve has won numerous IBMA awards, including 2020 New Artists of the Year and 2017 Momentum Band of the Year. BB won the 2015 Freshgrass Banjo contest and was a winner of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2020.
For the past few years, I've been writing music for the banjo and in October 2024, I went into the studio to record some of these tunes. I had an amazing band to bring the tunes to life including Ethan Setiawan on mandolin, Avery Merritt on fiddle, Alex Rubin on guitar and Myles Sloniker on bass. I was also fortunate to have the legendary Darol Anger play fiddle on a banjo/fiddle duet tune. We spent four days recording at Dimension Sound Studio in Jamaica Plain under the studious eye of Dan Cardinal. I’m very proud of how the recording turned out and can’t wait for you to hear it. Please head to bandcamp using the link beside. ——->
There you can buy hats, vinyls, cd’s, digital download or just stream it and share with a friend. It’s help me immensely and brings me joy to share these tunes with you!
