Tallgrass Express
Tallgrass Express is a truly regional band: providing local entertainment and recordings to share with others their celebration of the Kansas Flint Hills landscape and ranching culture.
Formed in 2004, this award-winning group features “Songs of the Kansas Flint Hills” by singer-songwriter Annie Wilson, named the Flint Hills Balladeer by Kansas in 2013 for her efforts “to share the beauty of the Kansas Flint Hills through words and music.” They have recorded six albums.
Band members Carl Reed and Derrick Doty, also singer-songwriters, immeasurably contribute to the band’s sound with their vocals and versatile instrumental skills on fiddle, bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica, along with Annie on guitar.
Performing in historic western dress, Tallgrass Express tailors programs to fit each audience.
Concerts can also include fast-driving old timey and bluegrass favorites, folk ballads, Western swing tunes, beautiful Celtic melodies, early American gospel hymns, beloved Cowboy and Western standards, and top quality instrumental music for background music at social events.
Tallgrass Express programs include brief stories on the background of songs, humorous observations on rural life today, and frequent references to the heritage, land and culture of their home, the tallgrass prairie of the Kansas Flint Hills.
It's all delivered with a sparkle they hope shows how much they enjoy making and sharing their music with others.
With over 500 performances, Tallgrass Express has played at community festivals and concerts, gallery openings, historical events, organization dinners, parties, weddings and receptions, church programs, and dances.
They are regulars at the Symphony in the Flint Hills, performing afternoon Roving Music for guests.
Founding member Annie Wilson says, “We feel incredibly lucky to live amidst the splendor and wide open spaces of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. Through our music, we celebrate this land and its people.”