CASEY DRIESSEN & THE COLORFOOLS

What are they?!

Who are they?!

Why are they?!

Those answers are simple really.

Casey Driessen & the Colorfools is the drums/fiddle/bass power trio I play with on my solo band gigs. (FYI, there are also solo solo gigs too.) If it helps, you can think of the dynamics and conversation of a jazz trio, the heartbeat of a rock trio, the danceable backbeat of an R&B trio, and last (but certainly not least) the drive of a fiddle based bluegrass trio. We perform just about all the material from my solo records, and if we don’t play it yet, guaranteed, we’re working on it. And, of course, there’s unrecorded music that we jam on as well.

Over the last couple years of development, I’ve had more than one drummer and more than one bassist — largely due to the demand for the musicians I enjoy playing with, searching for trio appropriate sonic explorers, as well as my touring schedule with other artists. Most often though, I’ve had Tom “TommyG” Giampietro [drums] and Matt “Matt” Mangano [bass] with me.

This instrumentation is one that I’ve wanted to try for a number of years. With just three instruments and no one in the sonic space of another, the sound is very open, versatile, and exciting for us. It’s also fairly simple for old and new friends to sit in. (We love us some collaboration.) I hope that you will join us for an evening somewhere on the road. TommyG and Matt might be with me, or they might not. However, I promise you that the Colorfools, whoever shows up, will be a cast of interesting and colorful characters.

~casey

The Colorfools go back in time.

Tom "TommyG" Giampietro (drums) demonstrates his eyes closed one fingered world balancing act with ease.

Matt Mangano (bass/vocals) demonstrates the two handed world cupping technique with a bit of effort.

Casey Driessen (fiddle/vocals) demonstrates the over/under two handed world grab technique.