Meet the Band
Barry St. Mane
Barry St. Mane is certainly one the most well known 5-string banjo players in the area. He has played in a number of Bluegrass groups going back thirty years including Buckacre, The Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Minnegrassco (with Leo), Wheatstraw Suite (with Ben), The Pretty Good Bluegrass Band and Tangled Roots. MBOTMA named Barry their favorite banjo player on their 25th Anniversary and he is a member of the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame.
Ben Manning
Ben Manning plays the guitar and occasionally picks up the mandolin; he brings some fine lead vocals to the band's repertoire. Born in Bangor, Wales, Ben grew up near Liverpool, England. He has been playing Bluegrass music since 1966 with many bands in both England and the USA. In Minnesota he has performed with Woodrush, Wheatstraw Suite, Bluegrass Inc., and Dick Kimmel & Co.
Leo Rosenstein
Leo Rosenstein hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and has been involved with Bluegrass music for over thirty years. Leo is an alumnus of quite a number of Minnesota bands including Minnegrassco, The Dakota Drifters, The Nash Ramblers, and Kimmel-Rosenstein & Company.
Katryn Conlin
Katryn Conlin (string bass) began playing Bluegrass semi-professionally in 1993 and has played guitar in several Minnesota-based bands, including Strawberry Jam, Woodrush and the Skirts. She took up the bass in jam sessions with the boys in Long Time Gone and has since made herself useful to the band both in the rhythm section and in the department of harmony vocals.
Mike Hildebrandt
Mike Hildebrandt was a member of the Twin Cities' Bluegrass music scene in the 1970's. For the last 29 years he has been practicing medicine, raising his family, writing fiddle music and performing with a variety of groups. In 2007 Mike was inducted into the Minnesota Rock/Country Music Hall of Fame with The Platte Valley Boys. In 2011 he joined "Long Time Gone", where he plays fiddle and adds some great trio harmonies.
Jeff Kinnell (1952-2008)
Our original fiddle player, Jeff Kinnell, passed away on May 18, 2008 at the age of 56, after a two year battle with melanoma. Jeff was well known to MBOTMA members and musicians of all kinds as a mandolin, guitar, and banjo player who loved to jam. He is remembered and missed by many in our community.