Cross-eyed Rosie started as a group of friends meeting and playing at our favorite coffee haunt, the Ugly Mug in Sellwood, OR.Our friends opened that great place in 2002 and had a need for live music both at their cafe and in their lives. Now and again you would catch Nigel hanging out by the door pickin' his banjo along with the Rosie's. We recently came across one of the early recordings where we were taking polls at the Mug to name the band. Anyway, after about six months of playing the Mug we started to really form into a band that was drawing well and playing really compelling original and covered music. The talent was there and the knowledge of the genre was growing daily.
We then started to really focus on exploring contemporary bluegrass and folk. Graduating to a local pub band, Cross-eyed Rosie started to emerge in the scene as something to see. The shows were always fun, new music coming out regularly and dancing generally ensued. These are the venues that allowed us to try and really start winning over the crowd, work on our stage presence and learn how to smile while playing. (For some of us, this was a learned trait...) Now after almost two years, CER has emerged on the touring circuit as a talented, creative and heartfelt group of musicians.
