About the Band
"Harkening back to the sounds of such first-generation pioneers as Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, Open Road is a traditionally minded bluegrass unit formed by relative youngsters. The Fort Collins, Colorado, group began in the late '90s when lead singer and guitarist Bradford Lee Folk, who worked at a cattle ranch, met up with Caleb Roberts, an electrical engineer who hailed from Columbia, South Carolina. (Roberts was a founding member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, an alt-country band that infused punk energy with incendiary gospel.) Roberts, who had always intended to form a traditional bluegrass group, found a more-than-ready ally in Folk, who possessed an uncanny tenor and had grown up listening to bluegrass in his native Missouri. The two ... formed Open Road, a name borrowed from a gentile style of Stetson hat favored by well-dressed bluegrass players ..."
–All Music Guide
After three successful releases on Rounder Records and five years touring across the U.S. and Canada, Folk retired from bluegrass touring in April 2006 to open a honky-tonk bar. Roberts, with bassist Eric Thorin and banjo player Keith Reed, continued to perform occasional reunions when their schedules allowed, often as Sally Van Meter's backing band.
About Open Road "Lucky Drive" (2005 Rounder release)
Open Road project with Jefferson Hamer (2006)
The Billy Pilgrims (new band with Caleb Roberts, Aaron & Erin Youngberg, David Richey)