Perfect Strangers is a fertile mix of established and youthful bluegrass talent. Chris Brashear assembled the players for his 2001 album, Wanderlust (Copper Creek), and they jelled so well together they decided to continue. After two years on the bluegrass circuit, the band returns to the Freight to celebrate the recent release of its first album, a self-titled collection that mixes hot bluegrass classics with tradition based originals.

Perfect Strangers' presentation is warm and friendly, their repertoire unique, their music marked by spine-tingling harmonies and inventive emotive picking. Chris is a charismatic singer with a high clear voice, a dynamic fiddler, and a songwriter with a penchant for writing memorable, perhaps classic, bluegrass songs on topics other than failed love. A veteran of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, Bob Black's stunning banjo solos and subtle back-ups are a joy to hear. Jody Stecher, a music innovator of incomparable stature, is a repository of tradition. Jody, who has been a Grammy finalist several times for his work with Kate Brislin, sings in a true bluegrass style and plays mandolin with a beautifully warm tone. A veteran of Laurie Lewis's band, Peter McLaughlin is a powerful rhythm and solo guitarist. Forrest Rose, another Monroe alumnus, plays upright bass with a mighty thump and is Perfect Strangers' erudite MC.