Fast Folk / Americana String Band • Duluth • Wait So Long
The Duluth string band that plays bluegrass instruments at breakneck speed and aching tenderness in equal measure, and became one of the biggest names in modern Americana.
The Short Version
Who Are They?
Trampled by Turtles are a string band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 2003, who became one of the biggest acts in modern Americana by doing two things exceptionally well: playing bluegrass instruments at absolutely blistering speed, and writing aching, tender ballads that stop a room cold. Led by singer-songwriter Dave Simonett, with banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, and cello, they swing between barn-burner and heartbreaker, often in the same set.
Marcel places them in the alternative-grass lineage, and they fit: they came up loving bluegrass but played it with the energy of the rock and punk world they came from. Their breakthrough songs "Wait So Long" and "Alone" made them festival headliners and one of the most popular string bands of their era.
Fiddle and banjo, played faster than seems possible.From a Stolen Amp to the Top of the Chart
The Story
Their story starts with a happy accident and runs to the top of the Americana world.
Lake Superior and Duluth, the band's cold northern home.
2003
Going acoustic
Dave Simonett formed the band after his electric gear was stolen, turning to acoustic instruments almost by necessity, and finding something special.
2000s
Building a following
Through constant touring and blazing live shows, the band built a devoted audience across the Upper Midwest and beyond.
2010
Palomino
The album and its single "Wait So Long" became a breakout, topping the bluegrass chart and reaching a huge new audience.
2012
Stars and Satellites
With the beloved ballad "Alone," the album reached the top of the bluegrass chart and the upper reaches of the Billboard 200.
2022
Alpenglow
Produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, the album showed a band still growing decades in.
Three Recordings, One Introduction
Start Here
These three are the fastest way to hear the band's two sides: the barn-burner, the heartbreaker, and the fan favorite.
01 · The Barn-Burner
"Wait So Long"
Their breakout, a breakneck string-band romp that shows off their speed. Start here.
02 · The Heartbreaker
"Alone"
The tender, aching ballad that shows the other half of the band, and became a modern standard.
03 · The Fan Favorite
"Codeine"
A haunting, beloved song that blends the band's drive and its melancholy.
The Catalog
The Essential Records 4 to start with
Four records tracing the band from breakthrough to maturity.
2010
Palomino
The breakout with "Wait So Long," the perfect entry point. Start here.
The genius of Trampled by Turtles is the contrast. On one hand, they are one of the fastest string bands alive, capable of playing traditional bluegrass instruments at tempos that feel almost impossible, with a driving, headlong energy that owes as much to punk and indie rock as to Bill Monroe. Songs like "Wait So Long" are pure adrenaline, and they made the band a festival phenomenon.
On the other hand, Dave Simonett is a real songwriter, and some of the band's most beloved songs are slow, spare, and devastating. "Alone" and "Midnight on the Interstate" are not bluegrass workouts; they are aching ballads that could sit on an indie-folk record, carried by Simonett's plainspoken voice and the band's restrained, gorgeous playing. That range, the ability to level a crowd with speed one moment and with quiet the next, is rare and is the heart of their appeal.
Their success helped bring the string-band format to a young, indie-rock-raised audience that might never have found it otherwise, exactly the door-opening role that the alternative-grass acts played. They never claimed to be bluegrass purists; they simply loved the instruments and the sound and played them their own way. In doing so, Trampled by Turtles became one of the acts that proved, to a whole new generation, how alive and exciting acoustic string music could be.
The northern Minnesota landscape behind their songs.The Roots of the Sound
Influences
Trampled by Turtles grew from bluegrass, folk, and the indie and punk scenes. These are the sources.
Father of Bluegrass
Bill Monroe
The instruments, the drive, and the high-lonesome feel at the band's foundation.
