Founding Member Bryan Garlotte - Banjo
Bryan Garlotte was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and grew up in Indianapolis. His music career started in the 7th grade singing "rock" in a garage band. He took up the banjo because everyone played the guitar and the banjo seemed "cool".
Bryan learned to play bluegrass from listening to albums and studying instructional books, all the while playing country rock tunes with his friends. In college
he he made a friend who was in a bluegrass band and taught him a lot about playing along with others and singing. It wasn't until 1993 after moving to Michigan that
he started meeting bluegrass musicians through the West Michigan Bluegrass Music Association. He played in two bluegrass bands, The
Slack String Five, and Backburner, before Terry Carter invited him to a jam with Patchwork in 2003. One thing led to another and one gig turned into years of
performing together.