Run Boy Run

Run Boy Run is a progressive bluegrass and Americana band from Tucson, Arizona. Known for their blend of old-time bluegrass, folk, and classical music as well as for their focus on three-part harmonies, the band first rose to national attention following appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion in 2013. Since their 2009 inception, Run Boy Run has garnered a number of accolades, including winning placements at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Flagstaff's Pickin' in the Pines. The quartet is composed of two sets of siblings: Matt and Grace Rolland, and Jennifer Sandoval and Bekah Sandoval Rolland. Matt and Bekah are spouses. They release their music on their own independent imprint, Sky Island Records. History Well before the band's formation, the Rolland and Sandoval families had known each other as teenagers as they had often appeared at the same festivals as one another. Each of them went on to attend the University of Arizona in their twenties, where they met bassist Jesse Allen after he had asked to join in on an impromptu jam session. They formally came together under the Run Boy Run moniker in 2009, winning the Pickin' in the Pines Festival band contest mere weeks after their inception. Two years later, the quintet won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest, joining a winner's list that includes Nickel Creek and the Dixie Chicks. This enabled them to record their self-titled first EP that same year, in spite of their members being split between Phoenix and Tucson. They came together to continue performing at festivals during this time, including Country Thunder and the Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music Festival.