Tres Amigos @ The Way Station

"Seamless collaboration meets shameless appropriation. Every Amigos show is at once a lesson in ethnomusicology and a raucous good time --- side splitting, foot stompin' fun!" -Jerry James, Director of Teaching and Learning, The Center for Arts Education 

"The Tres Amigos are a fresh and engaging new sound. They make music that is spontaneous, original, and funny, and their ideas and performance skills blend perfectly with their visceral appeal." -Gerald Busby, composer of film score to Robert Altman's 3 Women, longtime Chelsea Hotel resident 

What is The Tres Amigos?
Fresh off a 14-state, cross-country tour, The Tres Amigos is one of New York City's hottest folk acts. They present high-energy original music and forgotten gems in bold, acrobatic performances. Behind those matching mariachi shirts are virtuosic musicians and songwriters, delivering the goods in sunny three-part harmony with the vibe of your uncle’s old ‘45’s. Recent highlights include a 3-night run at The Blue Note in NYC, The Blue Plate Special Radio show in Knoxville TN, the Mountain Meltdown in Olean, NY, Ashkenaz in Berkeley CA, and numerous outreach, education, and college performances across America. 

Stubborn believers in the muddled and incestuous history of American music, The Tres Amigos embrace the spanglish of their name as artistic vision. What is folk music but music of the folk? And who are the folk but the American people themselves—in all of their diverse origins, flavors,  colors, smells, and sounds. Every Tres Amigos performance careens from bluegrass to blues, from wild-man jazz to honky-tonk, and mariachi— a testament to the rich and interconnected roots of American song.  

Folk music comes from the people—and not just in a theoretical sense. The song is the mind, the spirit, the arm, the heart, the hands, legs and the cojones. If you feel a restless tickle in your legs or your spine—if your heart starts to race with distant memories—if your ears feel drunk with sound and your hands want to slap each other—if all of a sudden your nose is flooded with smoky Carolina barbeque, your tongue tastes tamales and your eyes see tacos where they shouldn't be—then either seek immediate medical advice or just relax and pour yourself another glass. You're with The Tres Amigos now and everything's just fine.   

Who are The Tres Amigos?
Hailing from the rolling hills of North Carolina, vocalist/guitarist Justin Poindexter is the descendent of a long line of southern storytellers. His songs and guitar pickin’ have been featured in award-winning films and albums, and in hundreds of venues from Georgia roadhouses to Lincoln Center in New York City. Justin is the recipient of numerous grants for his music research and composition, including grants from the Semans’ Art Fund and the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music. 
Vocalist/accordionist Sam Reider is to The Tres Amigos what the green chile is to the tamale. His wild and constantly surprising playing has been lighting up stages all across the country. Raised in the musical hotbed of San Francisco, Sam's voice and keyboard stylings have been featured on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and in a variety of touring bands and orchestras. 

A former resident of Oaxaca, Mexico and an alumnus of the Juilliard School, vocalist/saxophonist/percussionist Eddie Ray Barbash is the virtuosic fuel of The Tres Amigos machine. Winner of many awards for saxophone performance, Eddie Ray has performed in festivals all over the world including New Orleans’ Jazz Fest and the Monterey Jazz Festival. As a percussionist, Eddie wields the Stradivarius of washboards, the Zinc King.