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Ralph Litwin--vocals, banjo, guitar, harmonica.
Al Podber--vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, slide guitar, bouzouki.
Ralph (Mendham, NJ) and Al (Brooklyn, NY, and Peru, VT)) have performed as a duo and in larger groups since 1985, playing "a wild mix of ragtime, jugband, swing, blues, old-timey country, rock n roll oldies, and originals" (Don Kissil, former editor-in-chief of "Pickin'" magazine). They have played at The New Jersey Folk Festival, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Lincoln Center Crafts Fair, Brooklyn's Dumbo Arts Festival, The Minstrel Coffeehouse, as well as numerous other coffeehouses, concerts, private parties, fairs, and events. They lightheartedly refer to themselves as The Furry Harmonica Brothers because they sport beards and sometimes play harmonica duets while accompanying themselves on stringed instruments. The Furry Harmonica Brothers have released a CD, which includes 7 tracks from their live appearance on WFMU with radio host Irene Trudell. Ralph Litwin took first place in the NJ Old Style Banjo Championship in 83 & 86 (last year of the contest). At the 1996 Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreesboro, TN, he was a National Old Time Banjo finalist, took 2nd place in Harmonica and 1st place in Uncle Dave Macon Freewheelin' Style. Litwin is also producer and host of "...Horses Sing None of It!", a non-commercial half-hour cable television series, which has won three 1st Place Awards from The Hometown Video Festival. Al Podber is an accomplished guitar player, mandolinist, and harmony vocalist, a founding member of both the Wretched Refuse and Delaware Water Gap string bands, a former host of "A Taste of the Blues" on WBAI-FM (Pacifica radio in NY), the lead accompanist for labor singers George Mann and Julius Margolin, and one quarter of the Big Road Blues Band. He also sings with the New York City Labor Chorus and holds a Masters Degree in Music (concentration in ethnomusicology) from Hunter College. Alan's webpage is linked below. Also check out Ralph's site for great music AND expert cabinet-making/carpentry: www.ralphlitwin.com