The Waddington Brothers Bring Unique Brand of Harmony to Pecos Valley

By R. Gabriel Villalobos

When Ethan Waddington and his brothers take the stage, the music that emerges is bluegrass, it’s cowboy music, but also something more. It’s the sound of four brothers from the North Dakota plains who have forged a unique musical identity from a lifetime of ranching and family harmony that ended up conquering Nashville’s biggest bluegrass stage.

“We have this western vibe in our group,” said Ethan, the banjo player for The Waddington Brothers. “It’s kind of how we grew up, and so it gives us a little bit of an edge.”

The band is comprised of brothers, Seth (guitar, lead vocals), Ethan (banjo, harmony), Jacob (mandolin, baritone), and Job (upright bass, harmonica, bass vocals). They are excited about their upcoming debut performance in Carlsbad.

Music runs deep in the Waddington family. Their uncle led a full-time gospel band in the 1970s and ‘80s, with their father playing for a time. Growing up, the boys moved between ranches as their father worked as a ranch hand and cowboy.

“Dad would always have a guitar, and he’d always come home in the evening, he’d strum and sing some songs,” Ethan recalled. “He eventually got us kids singing with him.”

What started as occasional church specials grew into a full-family touring ensemble—three boys, two sisters, and their parents—traveling across the United States and Canada as The Waddington Family. That iteration ended in 2010, and for eight years, the music fell silent.

Around 2019, the brothers felt the pull to play again. They recruited their youngest brother, Job, to learn bass and spent an entire winter in their father’s cabin, practicing for seven hours a day to prepare for a booked tour. Then COVID hit, and everything was canceled.

“We were pushing Job pretty hard to learn material,” Ethan said. “We were thinking, ‘He’s going to burn out if he doesn’t get to use this.’”

When venues reopened, they played select bluegrass festivals. A friend connected them to the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America) event in Nashville. Initially hesitant about contests, they entered the International Bluegrass Band Competition—and won in 2023.

“We were plum surprised,” Ethan admitted. “The phone wasn’t ringing off the hook. It’s not like you win and get record deals.”

But the victory carried weight because of their origin. “There’s no bluegrass here to speak of,” Ethan said of North Dakota. “Going to Nashville and winning their competition there made a statement among the bluegrass community. These guys from North Dakota just won this contest.”

What sets The Waddington Brothers apart is their distinctive vocal approach, shaped by limitations that became strengths. With all brothers possessing similar vocal ranges, they couldn’t rely on traditional four-part harmony structures.

“We have to make it work for us,” Ethan explained. “We can change the sound by letting the melody go a little bit, and we focus on chords rather, like three of us would be considered an instrument.”

Their harmonies draw from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and especially the Sons of the Pioneers, whose intricate, melody-swapping style they absorbed by ear.

“It took us a long time to realize what they were doing because the melody doesn’t stay with one person,” Ethan said. “It jumps around between vocalists like a relay.”

This western-grass fusion creates a concert experience with shifting contours. “We like to start off pretty hot, some good high-energy bluegrass, in your face sort of,” Ethan described. “Then we’ll slow it down and do a few cowboy songs. I feel like the show kind of swells up and down, and it gives people some room to breathe.”

The Waddington Brothers perform at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, at PR Leyva Auditorium. Tickets are $25.