In 2006, at the young age of 12, Hamline student Luke Birtzer began the band Sawtooth Bluegrass Band with his own brothers Clint and Shane, along with another pair of brothers, Jesse and Ethan Moravecs. This five piece traditional bluegrass band, in which Luke plays fiddle, Clint (who is the three-time Minnesota State Flatepicking Guitar Champion and the 2015 SPGMA Midwest Guitar Player of the Year) on guitar, Jess playing mandolin, Ethan bass, and Shane on the banjo, was not some spur of the moment decision. All five boys were under the mentorship of Luke’s stepfather, a member of the internationally touring bluegrass group Monroe Crossing. As a result, their passion for music grew over the next several years, leading them to record four studio albums under that name.

The band has opened for Dr. Ralph Stanley, one of the founders of the bluegrass form in the 1940s and singer of “Oh Death” for the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou starring George Clooney. And being good Minnesota Midwesterners, they performed at a benefit show being hosted by St. Paul celebrity Garrison Keillor, in which he performed a number with the Sawtooth Brothers. On top of that, they play at over thirty different shows a year, across seven states and Canada. They have been known to play at just about anything and everything, including weddings, parks, big music festivals that host thousands of people, breweries in uptown, and concert halls.

What was initially started as the Sawtooth Bluegrass Band, playing what one might consider traditional bluegrass music, was soon transformed into the Sawtooth Brothers, bringing with it a new and unique sound.

“[It] is progressive acoustic with strong bluegrass influence as well as rock, pop, and country inspirations. We don’t know exactly what to call it, but I think it’s safe to say Americana,” claims Blitzer in an email interview. The band draws inspiration from musicians like Nickel Creek, Bleachers, Frank Sinatra, The Who, all the way to The 1975 and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The one that rises above all of the others though is The Punch Brothers, which includes the traditional five piece bluegrass instruments, and much like the Sawtooth Brothers, all members come from bluegrass backgrounds but play anything and everything– including bluegrass, indie rock, jazz, and classical.

“It’s incredible. They are the best musicians of our time…seriously. Especially the lead man, Chris Thile, who plays mandolin. He is a literal genius.” Blitzer explains that neither band is looking for a specific sound, though they had talked about the idea a lot when they first made moves to switching things up, but then the songs that they wrote started to sound really cohesive even though they were pieced together from different genres. “I’m not sure what the new sound is, but we’re ready to take it wherever our inspiration leads us. I don’t think we’re done developing it.”

As a digital media arts major, Luke is now the band’s “in-house webmaster, graphic artist (designing posters, CD packaging, and other printed materials), videographer, and social media marketer.” All of these changes prompted the decision to release a self-titled debut album.

“To pay for all this, we’ve turned to our friends and fans for help. We’re offering a wide variety of rewards for backing the project on our kickstarter page. You can give a dollar and get a high five, or give a whole lotta dollars, and we’ll write a song for you!” explained Blitzer. The deadline for donations is March 15, and their goal is $12,000, so if they don’t meet their goal, none of the money that has already been raised will go to the band. Right now the Sawtooth Brothers have raised just under $7,000, so at this point any donation will help immensely!

If you are interested in learning more about the Sawtooth Brothers, their music, and/or their Kickstarter campaign, you can go to: sawtoothbrothers.com or http://kck.st/1IqwlZF for more information.