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Brandy Ray vividly remembers the date on which her current primary project, Brandywine and the Mighty Fines, performed live for the first time: March 6, 2020. This is because, a week later, COVID-19 caused the world to shut down. The band could finally kick themselves into gear once regulations were lifted, starting with a handful of gigs and booking more and more as they cemented the lineup.

The core lineup of the band consists of Brandy on mandolin and vocals, her husband Joshua Ray on guitar and vocals, and Matthew Schexnyder on guitar and vocals, with all three serving as the primary songwriters as well. Early in the band’s run, Emerson Lamm contributed banjo and Lena Dow contributed bass and vocals. Currently, Maya Fabrikant will often contribute vocals and fiddle, Joe Gibb will often contribute bass, and Neil Mitchell will often contribute drums. However, the Rays and Schexnyder are the consistent core members.

The name started as an in-joke from Brandy, or “Brandywine” herself. Due to her extroverted personality and excitement for interacting with others, as well as her consistent role in behind-the-scenes management, the band has crafted themselves around her being a central role. She jokingly called the other members the “Mighty Fines” because they have ultimately had longer experiences performing music. Gibb studied bass, and Joshua and Schexnyder have played guitar for most of their lives.

However, Brandy had only started playing the mandolin a year before the band formed, having dabbled in music only occasionally throughout her life before then. Joshua knew Brandy loved to sing, so he bought her a mandolin and encouraged her to explore a new avenue of her musicality. She hasn’t looked back since.

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Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore first met in 1981 and had both been in several bands in the bar scene before then. They had sometimes performed together but hadn’t fully leaned into being a duo. After getting married and having children, they realized it was much harder to perform in the bar scene than it was before. They decided to lean more into performances as a duo in 2006, when their daughters had graduated high school. They primarily perform American Roots music.

O’Brien grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she frequently attended local performances of famous artists. At a young age, she learned to play piano and sing along with it. In high school, she and her brother Tim performed various songs (especially from Peter, Paul, and Mary) at churches and coffeehouses.

Meanwhile, Moore grew up in Philadelphia, where, at the age of 12, he saw The Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show and became completely absorbed in the idea of music. His mother had already been a pianist and his dad a classical choral singer, and that Christmas, he got his first guitar and (coincidentally) started learning songs from Peter, Paul, and Mary.

The two love being able to share music with an audience, and they love being able to perform music together in the studio. O’Brien loves the process of getting the song just right in the studio, and Moore loves the technical aspects of recording in the studio. The two have various solo and duo albums, including their duo albums 900 Baseline and Saints and Sinners, and even though they sometimes have a hard time getting categorized, they are always passionate about the music they create.

Thank you for listening to The Mountain-Ear podcast featuring the news and culture from peak to peak.

If you would like to be featured in the podcast, contact the host at media@themountainear.com!

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As we transition into October, it's time to give a spotlight to an advertising campaign we've been promoting in the podcast for the last couple of months, so here to talk about the Forward Together Campaign is Alisa Witt from Gilpin County Public Health!

Thank you for listening to The Mountain-Ear podcast featuring the news and culture from peak to peak.

If you would like to be featured in the podcast, contact the host at media@themountainear.com!

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