The Freight Hoppers is an old-time string band that performed for several years during the 1990s before disbanding. David Bass and Frank Lee formed The Freight Hoppers in 1992. The band gained national attention when they were featured on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio in 1996, winning second place in the show's Talent from Towns Under 2000 contest. They recorded two albums on Rounder Records: "Where'd you come from, Where'd you go?" (1996) [1] and "Waiting on the Gravy Train" (1998)[2]. The Freight Hoppers 4th album is 'Mile Marker',released in 2010. Current musicians include David Bass, fiddle; Frank Lee, banjo and vocals; Isaac Deal, guitar and vocals; Bradley Adams, upright bass.
The Freight Hoppers reformed in 2007 after a five-year hiatus during which fiddler David Bass underwent heart transplant surgery.
Contents |
David Bass is a founding member of The Freight Hoppers. He also performs with the North Carolina-based old-time band The Forge Mountain Diggers. Bass is an award-winning American fiddler specializing in old-time music. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Bass began playing fiddle at the age of seven and mandolin at 14, and started playing in Contra dance bands in his mid-teens. He has remained active in the Old-Time music scene since then.