Out of
Norm Farnum, know as "Dad" by the
rest of the band members, is the bandleader. He
picks the
five-string banjo, sings lead and harmony vocals, and has 35+ years of
stage
experience under his belt. His musical
credits include five seasons at Silver Dollar City, three seasons at
The Roy
Clark Theatre and seven years aboard the
Trish Farnum, also known as "Mom"
by the bandmembers, is
the pianist for
the group. She is featured on lead and harmony vocals, and also plays
the
pennywhistle. She grew up playing music in
church, for
recitals, school concerts and 4-H programs.
In 1987 she first performed in Branson playing the ragtime piano
for the
Vaudeville Show at the Shepherd of the Hills, later joining Norm on his
In July 2003, their two
oldest sons, Daniel and
Benjamin, began taking music lessons. It
wasn’t long before they were able to do a song or two with Dad and Mom,
and
eventually became a full-time part of the band.
Their younger sister, Hannah, followed suit in November of that
year,
and now they have all been playing over six years.
Daniel Farnum, at 17, is doing a
great job on the upright
bass and lead vocals. A fan of Johnny
Cash,
Johnny Horton, and the Sons of the Pioneers, his rich baritone voice is
featured often on many of our songs.
Benjamin Farnum, at 14, makes his
mandolin ring as he plays
rhythm, melodic fills and intricate lead.
His skills on the mandolin are exceptional; and now he’s playing
the
guitar & harmonica, and occasionally sings on our novelty tunes!
In addition to the five musicians,
10-year old
Nathaniel joined the group in August of 2006 singing an occasional
special
number, and is now learning to play the ukulele. His
rendition of You’ve Got a Friend in Me is a real
show-stopper! Five-year old Maggie
sometimes makes a
surprise stage appearance, and 3-year old Matthew is generally content
to
listen to the music.
Since forming their family band in
2004 they have
played venues in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and
many
times in their home state of Missouri. Besides
their many church dates, they enjoy performing fairs, festivals,
historic
theatres and other family oriented venues.
They were first invited to play at
Silver Dollar
City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival in May and Southern Gospel Picnic
in
September of 2006. They were pleased to
return again in ‘07, ‘08 & ‘09 for similar festival events. In 2008
they logged nearly 150 performances. Not too bad for a "part-time"
family band.
Norm Farnum writes, "Our goal is to
glorify Christ and be a blessing to
all who hear us. We daily give thanks to
whom our talents come and are grateful that we can do something as a
family to
bring joy to others as we honor Christ.”
Copyrighted 2000-2010
