In Colorado in 2016, pianist Erik Deutsch ( Black Crowes) and banjoist Andy Thorn (Leftover Salmon) met for the first time, when Erik showed up for his first Leftover Salmon gig at the Stanley Hotel. It didn’t take long for the like-minded musicians to click. Over the next four years, Leftover Salmon’s stage-left lit up as the two developed an undeniable musical chemistry. In their original collaborations, they blend piano and banjo to create lush acoustic landscapes and classical-inflected forays. Their original songs dance between bluegrass, jazz, and folk, while showcasing the musical connection and language that these two accomplished players have honed on stage over the years.
Leftover Salmon banjo player Andy Thorn never expected to go viral. But in 2021, he was in his backyard, playing an improvised banjo tune to a wild fox, when his wife caught the whole thing on video. The video made headlines around the world. Soon, Andy was interviewed on the Kelly Clarkson Show and A & E’s Neighborhood Wars. Even NPR’s Political Gabfest discussed the video. A New York Times writer called it “a moment plucked from Aesop.”
Stunned by the publicity, Andy finally recorded it (“Aesop Mountain”), along with 14 other banjo instrumentals. The resulting album, “Songs of the Sunrise Fox,” stands in contrast to the music Andy normally plays with Leftover Salmon. This album isn’t about the flashy banjo picking favored by jam bands. Instead, it’s the banjo melodies Andy would play for his friend “Foxy” at sunrise.
Pianist and genre-bending sideman, Erik Deutsch currently resides in Mexico City. Over the 30-year span of his career in Brooklyn and Boulder, he has performed and recorded with pop, rock, country, and jazz artists like Norah Jones, Citizen Cope, Shooter Jennings, Shelby Lynne, Joe Russo, Steven Tyler, Ron Wood, Lukas Nelson, Levon Helm, John Scofield, Phil Lesh, Gary Clark Jr., Bill Kreutzman, Del McCoury, Warren Haynes, Karl Denson, and many more.
Since 2022, Erik has been the full-time keyboardist for rock legends The Black Crowes, performing on five different continents and being an integral musical contributor to their Grammy-nominated album ‘Happiness Bastards’.
A prolific composer and bandleader in his own right, Erik’s eight solo albums have received critical acclaim by RollingStone, Jazz Times, USA Today, and the Huffington Post, including Relix magazine naming Deutsch’s album ‘Outlaw Jazz’ the #16 best album of 2015. Recently voted the #5 Rising Star Organist in Downbeat Magazine’s annual poll, and recognized in consecutive years. Erik’s 9th LP—’This Was Then’—is due in July of 2025 on Hammer & String.
