Banana Express

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From the moment they take the stage, the four teenage musicians pour out their heart and soul into the songs they sing and the instruments they play, and the love for what they’re doing and the pure, captivating sound of their music is so clear that it could quiet a room holding even the rowdiest of audiences.

A group playing music far beyond their years, Banana Express is an Americana, Folk and Oldtime band whose roots stretch from the mountains of the West Virginia Line, to the riverside of the Shenandoah in Front Royal, all the way to Martinsville, Indiana. Elizabeth Dunlap’s captivating vocals are pulled together with her fiddle and clawhammer banjo playing, Lulu Furtado’s harmony vocals and guitar playing, Taylor Baker’s masterful mandolin skills and Mary Dunlap’s solid bass to top it all off. The teenage musicians have put together a sound they call all their own, that can only be described as pure and unique. Wearing their Appalachian roots on their sleeves, Banana Express takes you on a musical roller coaster playing everything from Traditional folk music, to Gillian Welch, to Bob Dylan, to the Beatles.|

The band was formed back in April of 2011 starting as a one-time, pick-up bluegrass band. Elizabeth, the most senior member of the band played fiddle, and had her older brothers to back her up on guitar and bass, along with some other members. The band transformed over the years from traditional bluegrass to the rootsy, down-to-earth sound they have now, and when Jack Dunlap decided to go full time with Bluegrass band Bud’s Collective, Lulu Furtado joined Banana Express as their new guitar player.