Bio

Seth Hendricks, Chris Good, Drue Gray and Jacob Jolliff make up Mutual Kumquat, a talented quartet of 3 singer-songwriters and a mandolin virtuoso. Mutual Kumquat has brought it's 'good times revolution music' to audiences across the United States, engaging audiences with positive, clever, and poignant lyrics, strong rhythms, rich harmonies, stick-in-your-head melodies and its unique blend of acoustic roots music influenced by bluegrass, funk, jazz, soul, folk, reggae and afrobeat.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of MUTUALITY, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." -Martin Luther King Jr.-

"Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being "drawn toward." Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and MUTUALLY beneficial relation with one's friends and enemies. Love creates righteousness, or justice, here on earth. To make love is to make justice. As advocates and activists for justice know, loving involves struggle, resistance, risk." -Carter Heyward-

Mutual Kumquat formed in the Summer of 2000. Inspired by visions of radical, loving, creative communities living in MUTUAL relationship and the sweet yet tart, tiny but power-packed-with-flavor wonder fruit that is a KUMQUAT, the group was born one late July afternoon in 2000 under a Southern California kumquat tree. The three co-founders and close friends, Chris Good, Nate Shull, and Ben Long had no idea where their moment of inspiration would lead. A wild journey has followed growing the guitar, didgeridoo, and dgembe trio into a full band explosion of 14, back again to 3 and now settling on its current lineup of 4-7 members.

Upon returning to the small liberal arts school, Manchester College, located in the small Indiana town of North Manchester in the fall of 2000, Chris, Ben, and Nate began playing with Chris' brother Michael on keyboards. After the group's first show at Manchester College, Seth Hendricks and Eric Stalter also joined the group on guitar and bass. within a few short months, the group had grown from 3 to 7 with the addition of vocalist Drue Jones and saxaphonist Liz Geisewite. Over the next 2 years the group swelled with the additions of Justin Peterson (drums), Nome (bass), Kyle Morris (guitar), and occasional guests Amy Fry-Miller (vocals), Dylan (bass/guitar/percussion), Anne Hall (marimba/percussion), Fred Agyeman-Duah (vocals), April Schmidt (trumpet), and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin).

In the spring of 2002, the group was victorious in a Battle of the Bands contest at the Firehouse in North Manchester, IN. The band used its winnings (free studio time) along with some home studio (in Seth and Eric's dorm room) work to record its debut album, "Feel the Vibe." The album captured the group's raw and positive energy and featured many of the group's popular songs from its college years. Soon after the release of "Feel the Vibe," Liz, Ben, and Chris graduated and began the group's geographic scattering. Over the next few years, members would leave IN and take up residence in places such as New York, Mexico, California, Oregon, El Salvador, North Carolina, Missouri, Michigan, and Idaho.

After a year and a half of MK inactivity, Chris and Seth met up over Christmas 2003 to record a demo of new songs. After putting the word out from coast to coast to see what the interest was, the group decided to reenter the studio in April 2004. After months of tape-swapping and phone rehersals, the group held a marathon 4 day studio session at Monastic Chambers in New Haven, IN. "Dream on It," the group's second album, was the result featuring 21 songs and 76 minutes of music that captures the group's eclectic influences and considerable musical and songwriting growth. After several shows promoting the new ablum, the group rescattered across the country.

In November 2006, Seth, Drue, and Chris came back together to perform at the School of America's protest in Ft. Bening, GA. After performing on the main stage in front of thousands and having an energized concert, the trio decided to dive back into making music together. After playing occasional acoustic shows throughout 2007, the decision was made to reenter the studio and recruit several new members.

The group's brand-new self-titled release features this core of Seth, Drue, and Chris along with longtime MK drummer Justin Peterson. New additions for this project included keyboardist Jesse Morgan, drummer Evan Gutierrez, and mandolin player Jacob Jolliff bringing new layers of flair and virtuosity to the Kumquat's trademark eclectic sound.

Now based in Southeast Michigan, Mutual Kumquat's music and performances have been received with interest and enthusiasm. The eclectic and upbeat music and positive and progressive lyrics have been resonating with audiences more than ever. 2008 promises to be a pivotal and breakthrough year for the group with the March 2008 self-titled release, "Mutual Kumquat!" and as they head into their most ambitious tour ever in the spring and summer of 2008. Audiences beware, the 'good times revolution' is about to explode!!


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	Bio Seth Hendricks, Chris Good, Drue Gray and Jacob Jolliff make up Mutual Kumquat, a talented quartet of 3 singer-songwriters and a mandolin virtuoso. Mutual Kumquat has brought it's 'good times revolution music' to audiences across the United States, engaging audiences with positive, clever, and poignant lyrics, strong rhythms, rich harmonies, stick-in-your-head melodies and its unique blend of acoustic roots music influenced by bluegrass, funk, jazz, soul, folk, reggae and afrobeat. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of MUTUALITY, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." -Martin Luther King Jr.- "Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being "drawn toward." Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and MUTUALLY beneficial relation with one's friends and enemies. Love creates righteousness, or justice, here on earth. To make love is to make justice. As advocates and activists for justice know, loving involves struggle, resistance, risk." -Carter Heyward- Mutual Kumquat formed in the Summer of 2000. Inspired by visions of radical, loving, creative communities living in MUTUAL relationship and the sweet yet tart, tiny but power-packed-with-flavor wonder fruit that is a KUMQUAT, the group was born one late July afternoon in 2000 under a Southern California kumquat tree. The three co-founders and close friends, Chris Good, Nate Shull, and Ben Long had no idea where their moment of inspiration would lead. A wild journey has followed growing the guitar, didgeridoo, and dgembe trio into a full band explosion of 14, back again to 3 and now settling on its current lineup of 4-7 members. Upon returning to the small liberal arts school, Manchester College, located in the small Indiana town of North Manchester in the fall of 2000, Chris, Ben, and Nate began playing with Chris' brother Michael on keyboards. After the group's first show at Manchester College, Seth Hendricks and Eric Stalter also joined the group on guitar and bass. within a few short months, the group had grown from 3 to 7 with the addition of vocalist Drue Jones and saxaphonist Liz Geisewite. Over the next 2 years the group swelled with the additions of Justin Peterson (drums), Nome (bass), Kyle Morris (guitar), and occasional guests Amy Fry-Miller (vocals), Dylan (bass/guitar/percussion), Anne Hall (marimba/percussion), Fred Agyeman-Duah (vocals), April Schmidt (trumpet), and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin). In the spring of 2002, the group was victorious in a Battle of the Bands contest at the Firehouse in North Manchester, IN. The band used its winnings (free studio time) along with some home studio (in Seth and Eric's dorm room) work to record its debut album, "Feel the Vibe." The album captured the group's raw and positive energy and featured many of the group's popular songs from its college years. Soon after the release of "Feel the Vibe," Liz, Ben, and Chris graduated and began the group's geographic scattering. Over the next few years, members would leave IN and take up residence in places such as New York, Mexico, California, Oregon, El Salvador, North Carolina, Missouri, Michigan, and Idaho. After a year and a half of MK inactivity, Chris and Seth met up over Christmas 2003 to record a demo of new songs. After putting the word out from coast to coast to see what the interest was, the group decided to reenter the studio in April 2004. After months of tape-swapping and phone rehersals, the group held a marathon 4 day studio session at Monastic Chambers in New Haven, IN. "Dream on It," the group's second album, was the result featuring 21 songs and 76 minutes of music that captures the group's eclectic influences and considerable musical and songwriting growth. After several shows promoting the new ablum, the group rescattered across the country. In November 2006, Seth, Drue, and Chris came back together to perform at the School of America's protest in Ft. Bening, GA. After performing on the main stage in front of thousands and having an energized concert, the trio decided to dive back into making music together. After playing occasional acoustic shows throughout 2007, the decision was made to reenter the studio and recruit several new members. The group's brand-new self-titled release features this core of Seth, Drue, and Chris along with longtime MK drummer Justin Peterson. New additions for this project included keyboardist Jesse Morgan, drummer Evan Gutierrez, and mandolin player Jacob Jolliff bringing new layers of flair and virtuosity to the Kumquat's trademark eclectic sound. Now based in Southeast Michigan, Mutual Kumquat's music and performances have been received with interest and enthusiasm. The eclectic and upbeat music and positive and progressive lyrics have been resonating with audiences more than ever. 2008 promises to be a pivotal and breakthrough year for the group with the March 2008 self-titled release, "Mutual Kumquat!" and as they head into their most ambitious tour ever in the spring and summer of 2008. Audiences beware, the 'good times revolution' is about to explode!!
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