PRAIRIE WILDFIRE

From the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains comes a bluegrass sound mixed with the free spirit of West.  

Wyoming’s Prairie Wildfire is releasing their new single – West Virginia Train – on Copper Mountain Records. Prairie Wildfire’s music is steeped in bluegrass, with some of the lonesome sounds of Wyoming cowboy country mixed in. West Virginia Train wraps all that together in one song that links the West with the Appalachians.    

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Prairie Wildfire features Morgan Blaney on upright bass, Sage Palser on mandolin and Tessa Taylor on banjo. Their vocal harmonies reflect the best of traditional bluegrass. The three are from the small town of Buffalo, Wyoming, home of David Stewart’s Occidental Hotel. The band was formed in 2015, but traces its roots to the Bighorn Bluegrass Camp for Kids. Their string teacher, Lynn Young, invited the girls to the Thursday Night Bluegrass Jam Sessions at the Occidental. They since have made the Occidental their musical home, where they perform alongside their teacher and David Stewart.     

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Morgan’s bass blends bluegrass rhythms with some jazz influences. She says her favorite role in Prairie Wildfire is backing up the vocals of Sage and Tessa with high harmony. Morgan is a junior, with a double major in bluegrass and jazz upright bass at University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. Sage picked up the mandolin as a kid and has not put it down. She also sings lead and middle harmonies for Prairie Wildfire. Sage is starting her college career at East Tennessee State’s Bluegrass Old Time and Roots Music Studies.

Tessa’s frailing banjo brings a traditional sound to Prairie Wildfire. She sings low harmonies and often plays rhythm guitar. Tessa is a high school senior who can find an old-time jam to join almost anywhere.