Meet the Band
Barry St. Mane
Barry St. Mane is certainly one the most well known 5-string banjo players in the area. He has played in a number of Bluegrass groups going back thirty years including Buckacre, The Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Minnegrassco (with Leo), Wheatstraw Suite (with Ben), The Pretty Good Bluegrass Band and Tangled Roots.
Ben Manning
Ben Manning plays the guitar and occasionally picks up the mandolin; he brings some fine lead vocals to the band's repertoire. Born in Bangor, Wales, Ben grew up near Liverpool, England (and yes, he did actually meet The Beatles). He has been playing Bluegrass music since 1966 with many bands, in both England and the USA.
Leo Rosenstein
Leo Rosenstein hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and has been involved with Bluegrass music for over thirty years. Leo is an alumnus of quite a number of Minnesota bands including Minnegrassco, The Dakota Drifters, The Nash Ramblers, and Kimmel-Rosenstein & Company.
Katryn Conlin
Katryn Conlin (string bass) began playing Bluegrass semi-professionally in 1993 and has played guitar in several Minnesota-based bands, including Strawberry Jam, Woodrush and the Skirts. She took up the bass in jam sessions with the boys in Long Time Gone and has since made herself useful to the band both in the rhythm section and in the department of harmony vocals.
Jeff Kinnell (1952-2008)
Our fiddle player, Jeff Kinnell, passed away on May 18, 2008 at the age of 56, after a two year battle with melanoma. Jeff was well known to MBOTMA members and musicians of all kinds as a mandolin, guitar, and banjo player who loved to jam. He is remembered and missed by many in our community.