The New Orleans and Bluegrass Mashup of Bumper Jacksons

The video for the Bumper Jacksons song “I Never Met a Stranger” shows the band members performing while riding bicycles, but as my co-host Nina Thorsen notes, it isn’t just a gimmick for the cameras. The band’s founders, Jess Myhre (vocals, toy trombone) and Chris Ousley (banjo and guitar), performed their first gig together at what they describe as a radical cycling house in Washington, D.C. What convinced me of this band’s authenticity — mashing up New Orleans jazz, bluegrass and country — was how  Myhre invests novelty numbers with real feeling. They play the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center in Yountville on Feb. 23, and then the Bing Studio on the Stanford Campus in Palo Alto on Feb. 24. Details here.