Pineross is the musical embodiment of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Larkin. Kevin began playing flatpick style guitar when he moved to Boulder, CO in 2000. Soon after discovering a local Irish session on Sunday nights, he bought a mandolin and started learning a stockpile of fiddle tunes, mastering the mandolin in the following years at the pub. Pineross' debut album was released in 2006, featuring many of Boulder's finest musicians. It is a meditation on the dying American West, a fusion of Spaghetti westerns, bluegrass, Irish melodies, and classic country.
"Larkin re-casts an American past; he does so fluently, with eyes as encompassing as Walt Whitman’s" -Tim Avery, Independent Clauses
Always restless and in need of seeing his native United States, Kevin moved to Oxford, Mississippi in February of 2006 to join the Mayhem String Band on mandolin, accordion and harmonica. In the past 4 years this "outlaw" bluegrass band has toured constantly, released 2 critically acclaimed albums, and open shows for acts such as The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury Band and B.B. King. Their latest record, Land Pirates (2009) was produced by Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers). Before a live performance in Oxford, SPIN magazine described the Mayhem show as "The best time you'll have all month."
Kevin is currently recording with Pineross and a cross country tour is being planned for the spring of 2010. In a progression from his earlier work, Larkin has gone on to incorporate Latin rhythms and hip-hop lyricism into his music, although his live show still seems as if played on some Mississippi porch: guitars, mandolins, tambourines, kazoos, and even a suitcase.
"He might have started with Bluegrass; the end result thought is something much more contemporary" - David Cowling, Americana-UK
