back porch buddha
is out in the open

Back Porch Buddha has been forming for more than a decade.

It was 1991 when Dennis Hardin and Bryan Masters met at their workplace, a mild-mannered Midwestern newspaper office. They quickly bonded over their shared adoration of Sunrise acoustic guitar pickups (Attention Sunrise execs: Endorsement deal right here. Seriously.) and started sharing tunes after work, back porch-style.

Dennis played a broad range of styles, from bluegrass to 80s rock to jazz standards. Bryan would mostly play songs he had written, and Dennis was quick to flesh out the tunes with wicked-but-copacetic guitar arrangements.

It wasn't long before the pair hooked up with Mark Horton and Barney Byard to form Stick Men, an altgrass outfit that presaged the Great Americana Scare by the better part of a decade. Bryan shared songwriting duties with Horton, and Dennis turned his attention to mandolin. Lead vocals were spread around, and harmonies were strung about like Christmas lights. The band made one great eponymous recording before flaming out in 1994.

Bryan moved on as half of his other musical project -- the late great Howdy -- while Dennis played extensively with the swingin' Pragmatics. Both acts enjoyed considerable regional acclaim.

Meanwhile, Bryan and Dennis continued to play together, and built a solid reputation on the stage of Wichita's legendary Panama Red's. Soon enough they were opening for the likes of James McMurtry, Robert Earl Keen and Dwight Yoakam.

Over time, Bryan's songs grew up, and he began to garner notice as a unique voice that ranged from silly to sublime. Meanwhile, Dennis' playing simply got sharper and wiser, and his guitar and mandolin parts rang with new emotional clarity.

Performing as Masters & Hardin, the duo accumulated a deep repertoire of Bryan's songs, and a few oddball cover tunes as well. And after years of rehearsal, these fellas are ready to roll with the best the region has to offer.

Look for Back Porch Buddha stretch their musical boundaries as a duo, and to team up with jazz players, bluegrassers, headbangers and tuxedos as they explore the south forty of their musical terrain.