Restless Lester is a bluegrass band that was formed in 2002. We played our first gig live on CBC radio in Calgary for the Eyeopener Stampede Breakfast show. Since then we've played many of the bluegrass and folk clubs, arts councils and festivals in Alberta and B.C. as well as other live appearances on CBC, CKUA and the A Channel Breakfast Show. We released our first CD ‘Endless Skies’ in 2005 and are very happy that it’s been so well received. We're pretty proud of the look of the CD too, which is due entirely to the excellent photography of Todd Korol and superb design work of Steve Speer at Acorn Communications.

In Restless Lester we like to play different styles of music. There's always some Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs and Stanley Brothers material in our  shows, played and sung just as straight and true as we can do it. But we're open to the work of newer songwriters too, whether or not  they are thought of as typical bluegrass writers.  So you'll hear some Gregg Allman, Loudon Wainwright III and Paul Simon in our sets along with songs like "Mystery Train" which we think has all the elements of a good bluegrass song.  And with a fiddler like Bruce in the band, it just makes sense to feature fiddle music from various styles including the great Canadian fiddle traditions.  It's a mix that keeps things interesting for us and the audience.               

Ryan Schroeder

The newest member of the band, Ryan is one of Alberta’s leading lights on the five string banjo and a former student and performing partner of multi-instrumentalist, luthier and singer/songwriter Jake Peters.

Bruce Blair

Bruce is an old friend and one of the best Canadian old-time fiddlers around. He's won a slew of fiddle contests over the years but now devotes his time to judging and teaching when he's not on stage with us. Besides old-time, Bruce has become an excellent bluegrass fiddler and has digested a lot of Aubrey Haynie, Stuart Duncan and Kenny Baker over the last two or three years. He's also a terrific tenor singer and sings lead on several tunes.

Contact: fiddling@telus.net

Paul Bergman

A former member of Slow Drag, Great Northern and other noteworthy bluegrass and acoustic bands in the Vancouver area, Paul has played and recorded with John Reischman, Jenny Lester, Tammy Fassaert and many others in the western Canadian bluegrass community. Paul has also performed with Roy Forbes, David Essig and Jeff Healey. He is a graduate of the music program at Grant MacEwan College and a frequent workshop instructor at music camps in western Canada.

For bookings contact:

Steve Fisher

(403) 242 - 3386

mail@stevefishermusic.ca

To hear samples from 'Endless Skies' and order a copy of the CD please go to the Listen Page.