Emerging from the acoustic string band tradition, Quickdraw String Band plays a repertoire of Country Blues, Folk Songs, Celtic, contemporary covers, and a bit of Ragtime. Experienced and hard working, they have been performing around Whatcom County for the past five years. In March 2003, Matt Novak, Allegra Ziffle, and former founding member Jesse Stein, performed for a peace rally in front of the Federal Building in Bellingham under the band name Dogleg. The following month they were hired for a groundbeaking festival for the Village Green Park in Fairhaven, Washington, where they brought in bassist Robert "Goldtooth" Ray, and later that month brought in mandolinist Dave Maguire to play for the Bike to Work Day festivities at the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, for which they changed their name to Quickdraw M'Graw. Jesse left in the summer of 2004 to travel Alaska, and since his departure, Quickdraw further defined their sound and Allegra took up the banjo here and there to fill in for Jesse's absence. August 2005 saw the release of Quickdraw's debut CD release, Blasting Caps, for which Quickdraw saw another name change to Quickdraw String Band. Blasting Caps was released at the apex of the "Ziffle Period," as shortly after tracking the recording Allegra moved to Olympia and now resides in Portland Oregon. During this time Quickdraw has earned its name as a three-piece. Their energetic approach and innovative interpretations, vocally and instrumentally, make it obvious to see how Quickdraw has become one of the most popular acts around Whatcom County, Washington. Very unique in their adaptions of various acoustic genres, Quickdraw is not old timey or bluegrass, sometimes ragtime, country blues, and folk, and can either play the type of songs to stomp on the dancefloor to, or those likely to loosen up a tear. Their style often defies categorization into any singular acoustic genre, but is definitely solidly grounded in acoustic tradition. This is exactly what makes them completely unique. Goldtooth often states that nobody else is doing what Quickdraw is doing musically in Whatcom County, and if they are, "they ain't doing it quite like us." It is the strong and varying backgrounds of all three members that make the combination so intriguing and distinct. Dave has played in Cajun and Punk-influenced bands in the past, and recently played a stint on mandolin with the local Bellingham bluegrass band, "Feed and Seed"and held down the country influenced Hoss on drums. Matt, schooled in the piano as a teenager, transferred to the guitar and learned well how to drive a fiddle tune as well as write and support a song, which has earned him a name as a solo act releasing two albums. Goldtooth, though strongly schooled and raised in Appalachian tradition, brings a strong blues and swing influence to the table, recently played with Bellingham band Pirates R Us, and is currently also playing with local Bellingham band the Otters.
Quickdraw plays quality acoustic music, and has shared the stage with other such
notables as Foghorn String Band, John Reischmann and the Jaybirds, The Dunton Sisters, Cliff Perry and Laurel Bliss, The Barbed Wire Cutters,
The Clumsy Lovers, The Bucklebusters, The Korby Lenker Band, Maggie’s Fury, Clay Bartlett, Kasey Anderson, Gus & Kati and the Mighty Ghosts of
Heaven, and Robert Blake.
Quickdraw consists of Dave Maguire, Matt Novak, and Robert “Goldtooth” Ray:
David Maguire: Mandolin, dobro, and vocals. Originally from the All-American City of Buffalo, New York, and came to Bellingham from Portland, where he played in the Too Loose Cajun Band, as well as the folk-punk outfit The Pounders.
Matt Novak: Guitar, harmonica, and vocals. Came to western Washington over ten years ago from the San Joaquin Valley, California. He has played in a couple of guitar/fiddle duos from the years 2000 to 2003; the most recent and notable of these was the Gravel Grinders out of Bellingham with local monster fiddler Howie Meltzer. In late 2004, Matt wrote and produced his debut solo album, Ten Valley, which has earned positive reviews internationally, and in August of 2007 released his solo follow-up, Middle River.
Robert "Goldtooth" Ray: Upright bass and vocals. Hails from a musical family. His mother sang and played string bass professionally for twenty-five years. Robert lived and performed in West Virginia, Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania for over twenty years. He then migrated to Northwest Washington and has been pleasing audiences in the Bellingham area for the past six years.
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