STILL PICKIN’ BAND
Traditional Bluegrass/Country Music
Still Pickin’ is a Connecticut based trio comprised of Connecticut country music veteran Dennis Sheridan on acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle and vocals, Patricia McDonald on bass and vocals and Lou Alexander on banjo, guitar and vocals. The Still Pickin’ repertoire includes bluegrass favorites, some good ol’ country songs and notably, a number of original tunes.
Still Pickin’ maintains a busy performance schedule throughout New England, playing festivals, fairs and private events as well as appearances at the annual Podunk Bluegrass Festival!
The year 2022 was one of good fortune for the band. Our original composition ‘Old Guys’ won an award at the Annual Podunk Bluegrass Festival nation-wide songwriting contest, placing Second in the competition! In addition, our original tune ‘Freight Train’ received air-time on the hit SyFy Channel TV series ‘Resident Alien’!
This year, another one of our originals (Hope Valley) took FIRST PLACE in the 2024 Podunk songwriting competition! The band will receive the award at the bluegrass festival in August, 2024.
Jim Sharpley-
In 2023, we lost our band leader and lead singer Jim Sharpley. Jim played banjo, dobro and guitar and was an inspiration to all who knew him. Jim’s circle of friends included many Podunk festival organizers and participants and his loss is felt by all. Pat and I continued to play as a duet, maintaining the standard of solid musicianship as modeled by Jim in his years as bandleader.
We have since taken on a new banjo player/vocalist, Lou Alexander. Lou brings us the added dimension of the banjo as well as guitar and vocals. He is a welcome addition to the Still Pickin Band!
Still Pickin’ has released three CD’s of their music (Hope Valley, On With The Show and Southbound). The CD’s include some traditional bluegrass/country selections as well as Still Pickin’ originals. All of these CD’s are available at our shows.
Meet the Band
Band leader Dennis Sheridan joined the group in the late spring of 2017. He plays guitar, mandolin and fiddle and shares lead and harmony vocals. Dennis is a veteran of the Connecticut country music scene with 42 years of experience playing in various duets, trios and larger groups. He was the founding member of the popular country band Bolton Notch and has performed in other notable country bands including Heartland and Skyline Drive. Both Bolton Notch and Heartland received First Place awards in the Hartford Advocate’s annual Best Bands survey in the country music category. Dennis is also an award-winning songwriter and has produced two CD’s of original country music performed by Bolton Notch.
Bass player and vocalist Patricia McDonald joined the band in the fall of 2018. Pat started singing for audiences at the age of ten and studied violin at 17. In addition to the bass Pat also plays mandolin and performed with the group Green Valley where she honed her vocal country and bluegrass harmonies with the guidance of the late Bob DiQuattro.
The newest member of the Still Pickin’ Band is Lou Alexander. Lou joined the trio in the spring of 2024 on banjo, guitar as and vocals. As a youngster growing up in Illinois, Lou played piano and cello. When he later moved to Connecticut, he took up guitar and played in blues/rock bands throughout the state. Lou later took up banjo when he received a banjo as a gift from his wife and hasn’t looked back! He is a welcome addition to the Still Pickin Band!
The trio performs throughout the Northeast, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York State.
StillPickinBand.com 