The High Desert Trio Story
The High Desert Trio is a Santa Fe based band that was born out of the need for outdoor, socially distanced, jam sessions during the height of the COVID pandemic. Frustrated musicians, with no gigs for months on end, we found joy in our musical comradery. High Desert Trio has a jam-oriented bluegrass sound that opens the doors to improvisation that has no limits. What started out as a way to satisfy our need for playing music with other musicians evolved into strong musical connections and friendships. With the return of public gigs, we are ready to perform.
Bob Bruen
Mandolin and Vocals
Bob has been playing and teaching mandolin since 1970. He has performed in the San Francisco Bay Area with many musicians including mandolin legends Rudy Cipolla, David Grisman and legendary fiddler Vassar Clemens. In 1975, Bob was fortunate to have his first composition included on The David Grisman Rounder Album. In 2002, Bob moved to Santa Fe. Since then, he has recorded four CD’s under the name “Walking Rain” .
Neal Denton
Bass
Neal got into playing bluegrass and folk in the hills of Central Texas where he played in the Bottom Dollar String Band and Kabomba. Neal brings 22 years of experience playing the bass and plays in the local funk band, Shake Alert.
Jonas Nahoum
Guitar
Jonas has been playing guitar for 30 years. He played old school rockabilly in Rob-A-Lou; surf guitar in Surf By Southwest with drummer Brian Hardgroove; Americana rock with Chris Chickering and the Now; and blues guitar with Little Leroy and His Pack of Lies. Before COVID Jonas was a regular jammer at the El Farol blues jam, and could be counted on to raise the house. Jonas’ love of bluegrass acoustic music stems from his time in San Francisco where he played with an acoustic string band exploring the music of Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton, and Jerry Garcia’s recordings with the great Mandolin player, David Grisman.