Whiskey Deaf is a band made of members that we are sure you have seen in a variety of bands that have performed at many of the West Coast festivals including Wintergrass through the years.
Annie Staninec has been playing fiddle since the age of four, and can rattle your teeth with a bluegrass breakdown, tug at your soul on a lonesome ballad, or kick you out of your seat with a cajun two-step. She’s toured the world and recorded with renowned artists such as Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan, John Reischman, David Grisman, Darol Anger, Mary Gauthier, and Town Mountain, and she’s taught at some of the most prestigious music camps in the country. Most recently, she is a full time member of the Rod Stewart Band.
John Kael has been teaching and performing bluegrass guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass for over 20 years, and is also an established songwriter – his award-winning song Handmade Cross can be heard on the Grammy-nominated album “Hard Game of Love” by Doyle Lawson.
Ethan Lawton is a gifted singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, and has performed on countless stages throughout the US and internationally with Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers, Cahalen Morrison and Country Hammer and others, and he is also a founding member of the acclaimed band Western Centuries.
Jamie Blair is a lightning-fingered and innovative banjo player, who began performing as just a youngun in Ohio with the Bluegrass Freightliners, and has performed and recorded with numerous bands since including the Ohop Valley Boys, Cascade Mountain Boys, Grapevine, Faast and Blair, and Blue Hill.
Dee Johnson is a staple in the northwest bluegrass scene, and is the rhythmic rock at the center of several bands including Mountain Honey, the Loafers, Grapevine, and Whiskey Deaf (of course!).
