Heartwood to host touring banjo duo The Lowest Pair

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee met on the banks of the Mississippi River while touring the Midwest festival circuit. Both had found some success with their solo careers, but after they combined forces into a banjo duo, it cemented their status as The Lowest Pair, a soulful output of musical brilliance that culminated in the release of five albums. Winter and Lee have relentlessly toured North America, playing 500 live shows in the past five years and sharing their music and stories along the way.

Mattox Farm Productions presents The Lowest Pair live in concert on the front lawn outside the Heartwood Center on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.

While the live music industry took a big hit during the pandemic, silver linings are visible in even the darkest of clouds. 

During the spring and summer of 2020, Winter and Lee found themselves camping and sharing songs around the fire with two dear friends and musicians, Adam Roszkiewicz and Leif Karlstrom, of the instrumental duo Small Town Therapy. As discussions of the crazy world lifted into the air with the firesmoke, the friends shared new songs and tunes, cementing an idea that a record was in the future.

Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee are The Lowest Pair. Courtesy photo.

In August 2020, The Lowest Pair spent a week in Enterprise, Ore. recording Horse Camp at the OK Theater. The album leans into each member’s string band Americana roots, with new songs written by Winter and Lee during the strange days of the pandemic.

The album also includes an instrumental by each musician involved, serving as a prime example of how a simple collaboration between friends can result in music that cuts right through the noise and delivers on its promise to move audiences.

Just like their previous albums, Horse Camp gives a nod to the folk and Americana worlds, while retaining a unique magic that places The Lowest Pair among some of the best touring bands making new music today. 

The Lowest Pair will perform on the lawn at the Heartwood Center, so audience members are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets. If there is rain or inclement weather, the concert will be moved indoors.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. and the music will kick off at 6 p.m. with opener Dario Re, followed by the main event with The Lowest Pair. There will be drink vendors on site. 

Tickets are $8 for kids aged 5-17 years and $20 for general admission. Buy tickets at mattoxfarm.com.