Raleigh , North Carolina (January 28, 2019) During a recent recording session, Mountain Home Music Company congratulated Gina Furtado for her radio success with “Puppet Show,” a song from her True Colors album that went to #1 on the Bluegrass Today weekly Grassicana and Bluegrass radio charts.
“Puppet Show,” utilizes a claw hammer banjo played by her brother Victor Furtado, alongside her own chromatic banjo picking style, creating a quirky song that merges elements of swing and jazz into carnivalesque fun.
“There have been few honors in my life as high as ‘Puppet Show’ having gone to #1 on Bluegrass Today Charts!” says Furtado. “I’m so pleased that folks enjoy it. It was born from my own process of learning my own personal strength and value, and I sincerely hope it may help someone who needs to know and acknowledge their own worth.”
Furtado, known for her innovative and unique musicianship and songwriting, is currently working on her next album with Mountain Home.
“I’m thrilled to have gone back into the studio with Mountain Home and an incredible cast of musicians this past fall. We have put together an album that I am SO proud of and can’t wait to share with the world,” says Furtado. “The process of writing, arranging, and recording has been a true catharsis, and I believe it shows in the songs.”
About Gina Furtado
Gina Furtado’s musicianship and songwriting, although based in traditional music modalities, breaks free from the assumed constructs and makes a new musical statement that’s influenced by emotion, is played with the highest skill, and expresses an enormous verve and vitality. With an intent to use the banjo as a medium of personal expression, Furtado moves through varied modes of musical treatments. Although she’s known mainly known for her work as the banjo player for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, she has a long history with her banjo. Born and raised in Front Royal, Virginia, Gina began touring up and down the east coast in her tween years with her siblings, earning countless ribbons from fiddlers conventions, a strong reputation in the regional bluegrass scene, and a stamp from Bluegrass Today as “absurdly talented.” She later played in a number of regional acts (Blue Light Special, New Girls Nite Out, On the Run, Bud’s Collective) and has made her international touring exposure with Chris Jones and the Night Drivers soon after joining the group. She is sought after as a teacher privately and at camps across the country. Her album, True Colors, was released in September 2017 and debuted at #13 on Bluegrass Billboard Charts, and had two #1 songs on Bluegrass Today Charts. Gina was featured on the cover of Banjo Newsletter in the December 2017 issue, along with her original tune “Saylor’s Creek.” She was a nominee for the 2018 Internaional Bluegrass Music Association’s Banjo Player of the Year.