About the Band…

Red Thyme is a folk-strings music collective that finds home among the green valleys, rolling dunes, and vast ravines of the Great Lakes. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the group is fronted by songwriting and vocal powerhouse, Hals Smedstad, and their partner, Jerry Wenger, who is a clever composer, clean producer, and a picker of tasty licks. Separate, they are forces to be reckoned with, and together they are a powerful musical unit that is constantly pushing the boundaries between traditional and contemporary Americana genres like; Traditional Folk, Bluegrass, Western Swing, Manouche Jazz, Country, Post-Revival Folk, Blues, Jazz, and at times even traces of Indie and Psychedelic Rock music.

Red Thyme appears as a duo, trio, and other string/full band combos. The rest of the group operates on a collective basis, with rotating membership of West Michigan’s finest string players. All in all, they comprise a small, but mighty, chunk of the quickly unfurling Americana/Bluegrass scene in West Michigan that has ushered in other incredible artists like Lindsey Lou, Billy Strings, and Full Cord. Most importantly, Red Thyme carefully integrates their youthful, outside-of-the-box creative thinking with the traditional sensibilities of Americana and Folk to innovate evolved, yet familiar, and nostalgic soundscapes that are sure to carry on the tradition of roots music in a modern world.