What’s In A Name

Relish -- Winston-Salem Journal

Special Ed and the Shortbus -- what a great and politically incorrect name for a band. And Ed and cohorts are special indeed. This group of acoustic musicians from Richmond play a type of music that has been described as acoustic mayhem -- a good thing, in this case. The group is a stylistic mixed bag, incorporating elements of vaudeville, jug-band music, bluegrass, old-time string-band music -- and, naturally, various Eastern European musical traditions. It’s careening, high-energy entertainment that is off the rails -- but expertly performed.

Listen Up

Relix Magazine, August 2006

Special Ed And The Shortbus specializes in unearthing and inventing traditional music and twisting it into new concoctions. Full of virtuosity and reverent irreverence, they are a sight to behold.

Special Ed and the Shortbus

Haymaker Productions

A friend of mine asked me, Are you sure you want Special Ed to play? Have you heard them? Yes, I have. Multiple times. Special Ed and the Shortbus is a stringband that may seem a little hard to swallow for some. Much like the Fugs and Holy Modal Rounders before them, their shows are veritable litmus tests for a crowd’s sense of humor. If you’ve ever answered yes to Frank Zappa’s question Does humor belong in music? then The Shortbus is for you. They’re straight-up nuts when they pick and sing, and if you can get past the lovely freakishness of their stage act, you’ll find some real talent backing up the zaniness.

Music Review

C’Ville Weekly - 6/2004

That’s exactly the amount of kazoo soloing you can hear before the audience starts throwing bottles at the stage; we’ve timed it, joked mandolin player Josh Bearman after his bandmate’s extended solo on the buzzing tube of plastic. Special Ed and the Shortbus, perhaps the only band in Virginia history to mix bluegrass, kazoo riffs and Soungarden covers, did seem to have a timely hold on their music’s comic interjections. After opening their set at Gravity Lounge with an assault of washboard-driven rural twang, the band spiked their striking instrumentation with dolphin impersonations, rhythmic armpit-fart solos and songs about Richmond transvestites. Unabashedly goofy and unmistakably talented, the Shortbus delivered with an R-rated mix of witty irreverence and bluegrass tradition.

Just three microphones handled the band’s seven-part instrumentation and layered harmonies, but scant amplification did little to detract from swift, solo-oriented numbers like, Pony Express,and light-hearted waltzes like Day at the Ocean, and In the Pines. Band members freely walked about the stage as they changed broken strings and retrieved beers from the wings. While the audience remained seated for the duration of the show, the loose assembly of about 30 twenty-something’s showed genuine interest, and the Shortbus responded with a focused, comfortable performance. Each member even took a stab at lead vocals, most memorably wide-eyed, bushy-bearded bassist Patrick Turner, who gave a hysterical, octave-spanning country interpretation of Led Zeppelin�s �Immigrant Song.� After two hours of comedy and bluegrass, the Shortbus drove back to hometown Richmond. Hopefully, Charlottesville is now part of its permanent route. - Andrew Leahy

Band of the Week

Graffiti Magazine Special Ed an eclectic mix of music By ALLISON HUGHES-RANDALL

Special Ed and the Shortbus is all about having fun. They play silly, ridiculous songs. They make fun of each other and tell jokes on stage. One of them even lists the armpit as one of his musical instruments. But, before you blow them off as a bunch of unqualified, goofy guys who just came up with an interesting name and threw a band together for something to do, think again. They are masters of their instruments, playing music based in bluegrass with a blend of old-time, jug band, punk, Klezmer, funk and anything else they’ve ever heard.

The Richmond, Va.-based band is made up of Special Ed Brogan, lead guitar and vocals, Bryan Cupcake Walthall, tenor banjo, bass and vocals; Ben Belcher, 5-string banjo, mandolin, bass and vocals; Danny Plotnik, rhythm guitar, vocals, kazoo, vocals and armpit; Josh Bearman, mandolin, bass, vocals, kazoo and clawhammer banjo; Aaron Lewis, fiddle and vocals; and Jake Sellers, percussion and battery.

The name, explains Aaron Lewis, came from a friend of ours who told Ed, our lead guitarist, that’s if you guys ever have a band, you have to call it Special Ed and the Shortbus.' At the time, we felt like the name was perfect for us as far as our being special, different and exceptional. Special Music for Special People is still one of our mottos. We recognize, unfortunately, the name is offensive to many people but we really do not intend to single out anyone in particular or make fun of anyone. Most people can take the joke and we sincerely apologize to those who can’t. Our music is not about making fun of people with special needs. It’s about making fun of everyone, especially ourselves; and poop, and sex, Et cetera. There's a lot, actually.

The band formed in 2002 and has been through a couple of lineup changes in the last few years, though they are back to being a septet. Since their inception, the music has gone in different directions, culminating in an eclectic mix of each guy's personality, tastes, influences and experiences.

"It started out with straight bluegrass," says Aaron Lewis. "We thought that would be easy...but bluegrass doesn't take many risks." They started experimenting with jug band styles and more contemporary music like the blues and jazz and the sound morphed into their own versionof bluegrass. We’re actually pretty far from what traditionalists call bluegrass, Lewis concludes..

Seeing them play is like watching a high-speed train about to jump the tracks, he says. It's acoustic mayhem. It's virtuostic hilarity. It's frenzied combobulations. We deliver as much, if not more, energy as any hard rock band. We really have a punk attitude in those terms...All bets are off on the stage. It’s good music and a lot of fun and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.

Special Ed and the Shortbus released two albums in 2004, "Special Ed and the Shortbus Bluegrass Band" and "Downhill From Here." Lewis says they went into the studio about 6 months ago and recorded a few songs for a new album. First, we were hoping (to release it) around Christmas, but now we’re looking for summer.

The band usually plays three to five if not more shows a month. They mostly play around Virginia, but often venture into W.Va. (often at The Purple Fiddle in Thomas) and Maryland. They have played as far way as Maine, Vermont and New York City.

Oh yeah, and the armpit as an instrument. Danny plays the armpit, yes, he does, says Lewis. He wasn't born an armpit virtuoso, however. For 6 years (he) studied at The Musbi-a-Faik Monastery and Conservatory on the small and isolated island of Jolo in the Philippines. There he was taught the ancient art of Tribal-Pitting from the resident monks. For thousands of years, the monks of the island had developed this art as a means of self-defense and discipline. During much of the time he spent there, Dan could be found under the Banyan tree, deep in meditation, pitting to the various sounds of nature around him.

To find out more about Special Ed and the Shortbus visit their Web site at www.specialedshortbus.com or their myspace account www.myspace.com/specialedandtheshortbus. If you hear they are going to be playing near you, make no excuses and get to their show. Why would you pass up great music and many chances to laugh and dance around like a fool?

Savannah writeup

Connect Savannah

Slightly disturbing dada-esque Va.-based string band that's one part Beefheart freakout and two parts trad jug-band. Too bad that off-putting name will likely hold them back (pun intended).

Hot Times in the Meadow

Richmond Music Journal - 8/2004

"Usually Meadow Farm celebrates the 4th of July with a stage under the trees and hay bales for chairs, but due to a threat of rain, everything was moved under cover, guaranteeing, I thought, that it wouldn't rain. But as soon as the even members of Muskrat Family Barbeque cut loose with "The Check's in the Mail," so did the rain. People came running in from the pony rides and other activities. As guitarist Danny Plotnik said, "Nothing like a captive audience!" The captive audience applauded the Weird Al Yankovic cover played with guitars, mandolin, clawhammer and bluegrass banjos. If you've never heard of them, neither had I. They're better known as Special Ed and the Shortbus. I hope nobody makes them change that name. I don't think you'd be offended if you heard their music. Even if you're not familiar with the 1964 classic "Big Fat Woman (With the Meat Shaking on Her Bones)," the words aren't as striking as their kazoo chorus or the helium-enhanced vocals, thanks to Plotnik and the balloons surrounding the stage. It's not all silly. Bluegrass banjo player Ben Belcher is seriously good on the instrumental "Pony Express," as are the mandolin, guitar and clawhammer players. Too bad they weren't introduced.

Patrick Turner is very serious when he puts down his doghouse bass and picks up a fiddle to play Ken Burns' Civil War theme to the reading of a letter they claim they found from a Civil War soldier who fell down a Johnny hole and befriended the troglodytes who live underground, only to return so stinky, his comrades stuffed him into a cannon and fired it. Serious stuff. So is the armpit solo during "Sweet Georgia Brown." If I hadn't seen this, I would have suspected instruments were involved. I bet every parent drove home that night listening to their own little budding musicians try to imitate that fantastic feat." - Walter Boelt

That High Lonesome Sound

Moorsmagazine.com (Note: This is translated from Dutch)

Special Ed, creates, with his Shortbus, in which there are a total of eight people on stage, a hilarious, humorous form of party-bluegrass. They're really a live-band, and one can tell by the two CD's they released, how amazing their performances must be. Sometimes they really go on a tangent with their humor (listen to the ridiculous laughing seagull choir in 'Day at the Ocean), but because they are amazing musicians, it does not turn into a chaotic mess. It isn't pure bluegrass either, since there are definitely jazz influences, you can hear some jugband, and sometimes they sound like an old fashioned string band. The fun drips off every side, and if you really listen you won't only start laughing often, but you will also be impressed by their professionalism and simultaneously by their flexibility and improvisational abilities.

They have, to show what they can do, released two CD's simultaneously - Special Ed and the Shortbus Bluegrass band is the 'traditional' CD of the two, while on Downhill from Here you can admire their bizarre (and a little less traditional) side. On the latter CD you can also find two hidden tracks, so when the CD seems to be over, stay tuned...

- Holly Moors

10 Years of Smiles and Music in NC

Jambase.com - 9/2004

Ease into the day with acoustics. Or at least that was the plan. What we didn't expect was the vaudeville onslaught of Special Ed and The Shortbus Bluegrass Band. Opening up the brand new Hydro Stage, Special Ed brought a mix of old-time stomp and medicine-show theatrics. The band featured guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, washboard, kazoos, and even an armpit solo. Yes, an armpit solo, and a musical one at that. No mere novelty, these pitsqueaks varied in tone and pitch, and even contained their own little melody. It was truly the greatest thing I saw all weekend. Their setlist ranged from originals about groundhogs (note, "Groundhog" is not our song, it's a traditional PF Shortbus) and New Orleans to traditional covers like Sweet Georgia Brown, which included a beautiful fiddle solo and a raucous banjo undercurrent. A freewheeling take on Frank Zappa's Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? led straight into a sideways version of Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun.

- Paul Kerr

Music Notes

GoTriad - NC

Interview with Josh Bearman by Charla Duncan

Stompin' grounds: All members are Virginia boys with the exception of a fiddling Detroit native. The band currently resides in Richmond, Va.

Sound: playful, intricate, foot-tappin'

Member in quotes: Josh Bearman (mandolin, kazoo, claw hammer banjo, vocals)

Behind the music: We just met each other through connections with friends. I met everyone when I moved to Richmond about four years ago. A few of us grew up together, but we really all congregated in Richmond.