Located in New York’s Capital Region, Everest Rising is a tightly-knit quintet influenced by bluegrass, Americana, rock, jazz and more. Together they create progressive acoustic music that is unique, powerful, and comfortably familiar. With a wide dynamic range, Everest Rising’s material spans from heartfelt laments to all out jams, all executed with instrumental finesse and thoughtful story-telling.

Bill Flanagan – Banjo

Bill has played banjo in various bands for many years and is also a solo performer on hammered dulcimer. Bill’s unique banjo style stems from many abstract influences including Porcupine Tree, guitarist David Qualey, and U2’s The Edge. He enjoys the challenge of creating musical tapestries and is particularly fond of 3- and 6-note sequences repeated over pedal tones. For Bill, Everest Rising represents a departure from traditional genres and an opportunity to explore new sonic textures.

Pete Gernert-Dott – Bass, Vocals

At age 14, Pete clipped two strings off his acoustic guitar and became a bass player. His propulsive, melodic playing reflects influences from Pete Farndon and Mike Mills to Eric Thorin and Andy Moritz. In Everest Rising, Pete enjoys exploring open space in the music created by an instrumental four piece and providing the foundation to support the creative interplay of banjo, guitar and voice.

Dale Wade-Keszey – Vocals, Harmonica

Dale is an historian, educator, and a volunteer at the Mabee Farm Historic Site. A prolific songwriter, his song “Dirt on My Skirts” was featured in the documentary “Dirt on their Skirts: 150 Years of Pioneers in Women’s Baseball.” In Everest Rising, Dale writes about everything from daily life to the trials and tribulations of people throughout history.

Trevor Wood – Guitar, Vocals

Trevor is one of those confused musicians who enjoys playing everything from classical to metal. Growing up in New Brunswick, Canada, his musical roots are largely folk/country. He brings together the rich melodies of Celtic traditional music and the improvisational, dynamic quality of jazz and blues. In Everest Rising he loves taking a simple song structure and messing with it in a way that is both intellectual and spontaneous… and picking up ideas on-the-fly from the band.

Mark Baptiste – Mandolin, Vocals

Living in beautiful Upstate New York, Mark plays acoustic and electric guitar and mandolin. He’s influenced by such artists as Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Robin and Linda Williams, The Band, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles. He is a talented singer-songwriter and also performs solo throughout the Albany, NY, area, singing a mix of folk, traditional and American popular songs, as well as original songs.