Artist Profiles: Banjoist Gina Furtado

Gina Furtado, a native of Front Royal, Virginia, began her musical journey during her adolescent years touring along the eastern coast of the United States with her siblings. This experience earned her multiple awards from fiddlers conventions and a formidable reputation in the regional bluegrass community. Subsequently, she performed with various regional groups, further establishing her standing as a distinguished musician.

As a result of her accomplishments, Gina Furtado has gained significant recognition in bluegrass circles in recent years. While she had been teaching and playing banjo in northern Virginia for an extended period, her prominence escalated after joining Chris Jones & The Night Drivers in 2016. Following this, she embarked on a solo project, “True Colors,” in collaboration with Mountain Home, which was released in the subsequent year.

In 2019, Gina left Chris Jones & The Night Drivers to form her own band, The Gina Furtado Project, aimed at showcasing her original vocal and instrumental music. The group’s debut project, “I Hope You Have A Good Life,” was launched later that year, featuring a diverse range of Gina’s captivating, relatable, and original material, encompassing bluegrass, swing, gypsy jazz, and other genres.

During performances, Gina is accompanied by Drew Matulich on guitar and her sisters, Malia Furtado on violin and Lu Furtado on bass, each bringing their experience and energy to the band.

(headline image: Gina Furtado – Photo courtesy of Mountain Home Music Company)

About The Gina Furtado Project

Now based in Asheville, NC, Matulich grew up in Georgia and began playing guitar at 8. While studying music in college he performed with several bands of various styles in and around Georgia and Florida before immersing himself in the Bluegrass scene of Western North Carolina. He has toured and recorded with Billy Strings, made a guest appearance on Roland White’s album and shared the stage with the likes of David Grisman, Bryan Sutton, Sam Bush, Cody Kilby, and Sierra Hull.

Malia’s musical journey began at the age of 3 with classical violin lessons and took a turn, when she attended her first festival, Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, a few years later. Since then, she has performed with a number of different groups, taken home a range of prizes, graced the stage of numerous venues up and down the East Coast and given private lessons in both bluegrass and classical playing. Malia is the Director of Education at the Front Porch Music School in Charlottesville, VA, and currently teaches adult continued education courses in bluegrass fiddle at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, VA.

Lu Furtado has been attending bluegrass and old time music festivals since she was born. She began playing multiple instruments at the age of ten, and has been a winner at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention playing the Clawhammer banjo, as well as flat foot dancing. She has toured and recorded with multiple bands of varying styles, including Banana Express and the Hi Flyers. Furthermore, she taught banjo for several years at the Galax Elementary School and private music lessons for many years. Likewise, she brings double trouble to the Gina Furtado Project with her silky, low harmony vocals as well as her stylish, groovy bass playing.

Discography:

True Colors (Mountain Home Music Company, 2017)

I Hope You Have A Good Life (Mountain Home Music Company, 2019)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.