PRETEND FRIEND
Everybody ’ s got a Pretend Friend . by JOE MACK
H ailing from Wichita , Kansas , fourpiece string band Pretend Friend will have imaginations running wild during their OIBF debut .
The band , which includes Evan Ogborn ( mandolin / ollies / shreds ), Garrett Briggeman ( banjo / Bob Ross revivalist ), Brody Wellman ( bass / heirloom tomatoes ), and Grant Boesen ( vocals / guitar / magic ), have been embraced by contemporary and traditional bluegrass fans alike .
“ I can move things with my mind ,” chided Boesen .
Described as “ the quick-pickin ’ offspring of Robert Plant and the Stanley Brothers ,” Pretend Friend have been at it since 2017 when the unit we see today took shape at the heralded Walnut Valley Festival . They ’ d go on to win the
Walnut Valley Festival 48.5 “ Battle of the Bands ” competition in September 2020 ; also of note , Ogborn is the 2021 Kansas state mandolin champion . Pretend Friend is not only real , but they ’ re refreshing , too . “ We incorporate jamband-style riffs and arrangements ,” Boesen told OIBF in an exclusive interview . “ Making ‘ high-energy ’ bluegrass was something we learned from other Kansas bands like Split Lip Rayfield , Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy , Deadman Flats and many others .” If quick tempos , contemporary songwriting , and clever acoustic instrumental arrangements , make sure you and all your imaginary counterparts catch them here in Guthrie . “ I want to say , again , how excited we are to be at OIBF ” warms Boesen . “ The guys and I are thrilled to play such an historic festival . It ’ s an honor to share the stage .” IBF
BID ON AN INSTRUMENT AT OUR AUCTION !
RED DIRT RANGERS
Y ou couldn ’ t do any better than the Red Dirt Rangers , who ’ ve been carrying the banner for Red Dirt music since the late 1980s . And years before the band existed , Ben Han , John Cooper , and Brad Piccolo became an integral part of “ The Farm ’ s ” musical brotherhood , trading songs and licks with the likes of Jimmy LaFave , Tom Skinner , Bob Wiles and Bob Childersand , later , with such white-hot acts as Cross Canadian Ragweed , Jason Boland and the Stragglers and Stoney LaRue .
“ We would keep on coming in , every weekend , and whoever was playing music at the time , we ’ d just chime in ,” recalls Ranger lead guitarist-vocalist Ben Han , whose journey to “ The Farm ” began in far-away Borneo . “ Livingroom jams became jams for beers , and then it was , ‘ Hey , we ’ ve got something going on .’ We just proceeded with what we already had , called a couple of friends , and the next thing you know , we ’ re pickin ’ and grinning .”
That casual approach to becoming a band is the very antithesis of the ambition-driven grab for the stars that makes shows like American Idol possible . But the Rangers ’ laid-back roadless-traveled style splendidly evokes the musicians who honed their chops in the living room , front porch , garage ( aka “ The Gypsy Café ”) and campfiredotted acreage of ” The Farm ”, where the sheer joy of creating music with friends transcended everything else . As Rangers mandolinist-vocalist John Cooper has noted , “’ The Farm ’ was as much an attitude as a physical structure . It allowed a setting where freedom rang and all things were possible . Out of this setting came the music .”
In 2020 , the band was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame . IBF
14 / OKLAHOMA ’ S INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 2022