Bluegrass Music In New Mexico
About Us
Grey Howell - Fiddle
Grey Howell grew up in Corrales, New Mexico and is an outstanding
fiddle player, banjo player and guitar player who started playing bluegrass in the early 70's with the Clear Ditch Ramblers from Corrales. He later was part of the Hot Club of Santa Fe and has been part of numerous recording projects. He has played with some of the finest bluegrass musicians in the country over the years. We are truly honored to have him pickin with the Duke City Swampcoolers!
Bill Dufault - Vocals, mandolin, songwriter and guitar
I grew up in and around the Boston area listening to 60’s and 70’s type music. I started playing drums at the age of 15 and played in a high school rock and roll band. We did songs from Steppenwolf, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull etc..
In 1977 I drove my $300 Ford Futura to Colorado and ended up in New Mexico. It wasn’t until I went to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1984 that I realized that I wanted to learn to flat-pick and play bluegrass music.
After that, I was in and out of bluegrass jams and bands throughout the late 80’s and 90’s. 1990 was a special year for me. I bought my first mandolin and celebrated the birth of my daughter.
While working at the hospital, I would occasionally see a guy I thought looked like John Cleese from Monty Python. As luck would have it, this guy, Tony Smith, was a bluegrass musician with connections to a bluegrass band called the Fiasco Brothers. After two years of playing with the “bros”, we branched off and formed our own band called the “Duke City Swampcoolers.”
Jon Bryan - banjos, ukuleles, vocals and tunes
I have been a fan of country string band music since I was barely tall enough to see over the top of my uncle's pedal steel. I was raised a Baptist (twice on Sunday, plus Wednesday night prayer meeting), singing at the top of my lungs, fanning my own cool breeze in the humid Oklahoma summer. My first (analog) computer was a player piano. I really loved threading the rolls and studying the workings, but my legs were too short to reach so I sat on the floor and worked the pedals by hand. When the elementary school started a band, I became the tuba player by default, being both the largest and the latest to the first rehearsal. My musically-inclined kin moved to California, so I taught myself a little guitar, played tuba in the band, and sang in the school choir. I made a half-hearted attempt at a college musical education, tried my hand at uranium mining and 105mm cannon marksmanship, but eventually returned to digital computers. I took up the banjo about fifteen years ago when TV got too bad to watch. Then I hooked up with these guys who thought "Duke City Swampcoolers" was a good name for a band.
Tony Smith - Acoustic guitar, vocals and songwriter
I had a mid-life crisis at age 40. I didn't go buy a new car or get a new wife but I did buy a new guitar. Without knowing much about bluegrass music or the local bluegrass scene, I managed to meet and start playing with an established band in Albuquerque called the Fiasco Brothers Bluegrass Band. Those guys had the patience of Job to put up with me for the first several years. I was like a band fungus…something that just wouldn’t go away. In the process of learning tunes I came to the realization that I could write and compose music also. One thing led to another and eventually I migrated with a few others to form the “Duke City Swampcoolers”. My favorite guitar is a Pimental acoustic dreadnought made here in Albuquerque New Mexico. They make amazing guitars. These days I also love playing a 1960 Martin D28.
Kevin Cooper
Vocal and Bass
Gerry Szostak
Vocal and Dobro
PRESS
Duke City Swampcoolers Band History
The Duke City Swampcoolers are a bluegrass band from Albuquerque, New Mexico otherwise known as the "Duke City". The band officially formed in 2003 and named itself after the trustworthy old evaporative air coolers that everyone uses in their homes in the dry desert southwest. Why the Duke City Swampcoolers? It was the only name we could all agree on and it was supposed to be temporary but it wound up sticking. Those swampcoolers run day and night trying to cool the house down and they do have breakdowns which can also be a high-speed bluegrass barn burner. The band consists of an eclectic mix of professional people including a doctor, a pharmacist, a master historic Santa Fe home restorer, a fellow who does something nuclear, a business guy and a retired school teacher. Members of the band currently include Anthony Smith on guitar, Bill DuFault on mandolin, Jon Bryan on banjo and ukulele, Kevin Cooper on bass, Grey Howell on the fiddle, and Gerry Szostak on dobro. CD’s include “It Ain’t the Years”, “Drained and Unplugged”, and “Cooler Heads Prevail”. The CD’s all received great reviews in magazines like Bluegrass Unlimited and the New Mexico Magazine. Most of the songs on the discs are originals. Musical influences range from swing to blues to folk to hard driving old time bluegrass. Over the years, the band has played at many regional and local festivals as well as many other local venues both large and small.
Swampcooler News
1. The Swampcoolers were featured in a photo in the New York Times as part of an article discussing the Music in Medicine program at the University of New Mexico where we performed for patients in the clinic there.
2. Here are some excerpts from the New Mexico Magazine, March 2006 which reviewed our first CD release, It Ain’t the Years, “…these songs never fail to entertain with the musicians’ lively pickin’ and heartfelt lyrics.”
3. The New Mexico Magazine reviewed our second CD, Drained and Unplugged, in January 2008. Here are some excerpts, “Tony Smith, however, still writes the cleverest songs….Bill Dufault’s “East Canyon Winds” skillfully details his journey west from Massachusetts to New Mexico. Aaron Combs provides great fiddlin’ throughout, and Jon Bryan’s fine banjo pickin’ punctuates his toe-tapping “Swampcooler Breakdown.” His “Time Enough for Love” is a poignant end for this cozy, down-home recording.”
4. Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine reviewed Drained and Unplugged in their March 2009 issue and here are some excerpts from that review. “Drained and Unplugged is an exciting offering of eclectic bluegrass created by a high energy band from Albuquerque, New Mexico….With Drained and Unplugged, the Duke City Swampcoolers have created a rambunctious and entertaining collection of high-octane bluegrass that leaves a yearning to attend one of their live shows.”
5. The Swampcoolers were the Artist of the Month for the New Mexico Music Commission in January 2009.
6. “We saw the Swampcoolers in Albuquerque in June when breezing thru on Route 66. They were great live and this album captures their infectious enthusiasm. Thanks Guys, long may you play!” David Munro…review of It Ain’t the Years on CDbaby.com.
7. “Loved the CD and loved the variety of songs on the CD. Glad that New Mexico magazine wrote about it, otherwise I would never have known about it. I'm particularly fond of banjo playing.” James H. Webster…review of It Ain’t the Years on CDbaby.com.
8. 2-28-2022: We wanted to add this bit of sad news. Art Jarvis passed away recently. Art played music with the Swampcoolers for many years as our bass player and a vocalist. He was loved by all. He will be sorely missed by the music community here in Albuquerque and he will be dearly missed by those of us who were lucky enough to play music with him.