Kesey Bear Band
Nick, Amy, Gary, & Roger. Burlington, 1997. Photo by Dan Goodrich.
From 1993 to 1998, Kesey-Bear band played uptempo improvisational covers of old-time fiddle tunes, bluegrass songs, Irish jigs, Dawg music, and folk ballads. The Kesey-Bear Band members were Amy Arnett (fiddle), Gary Entsminger (mandolin, vocals), Nick Gotelli (lead guitar, slide), and Roger Williams (rhythm guitar, vocals). The band was named after two faithful pets, Gary's black lab Kesey (1992-2005), and Nick's black chow-chow Bear (1984-1994). In the fall of 2003, the Kesey-Bear band (sans Amy) reunited with guest drummer Caleb Bronz for a benefit concert for Howard Dean's presidential campaign.
White Horse Breakdown [4:45] Temperance Reel [3:27] Minor Swing [3:24] Japan [2:54] Oriental Shuffle (Howard Dean Benefit Concert) [3:10]

Kesey-Bear Band Archives
_____________________________________________ It Don't Mean A Thing [2:32] Dean Fundraiser (Speech) [3:43] Oriental Shuffle [3:10] September Song [2:51] Noto Swing [2:47] Steam-powered Airplane [4:09] Long Black Veil [5:44] Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo [7:15] Blue Drag [3:22] Anouman [6:09] _____________________________________________		_____________________________________________ 2003.10.xx. Howard Dean Benefit Concert. For a short time during Howard Dean's presidential campaign, it seemed like something good was about to happen in U.S. politics, and the Kesey-Bear band (sans Amy) lent a hand by playing a couple of house parties and benefit concerts. As always, concert recordings are challenging, but we had good support from the crowd. Oriental Shuffle is my favorite in this set. _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________ White Horse Breakdown [4:45] Temperance Reel [3:27] Minor Swing [3:24] Japan [2:54] _____________________________________________		_____________________________________________ 1998.04.xx. Kesey-Bear Band. The Kesey-Bear band played a good mix of old-time tunes, Irish jigs, dawg music, with a few vocals and ballads thrown in. All of this music was fueled by the high-octane fiddling of my former graduate student Amy Arnett (now a biology professor at Unity College). Right before Amy graduated, we pooled our pennies and went into a recording studio on the Burlington waterfront to record this set of (pre-digital) tunes. We will be posting more of these as we gradually convert them from tape over to mp3. _____________________________________________

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