Rushad Eggleston


Rushad Robert Eggleston is an American cellist, composer, jazz vocalist, & performer, who has toured extensively in 49 states and 15+ countries. Eggleston is known for inventing words, and for his imaginative world called The Land of Sneth.

Early years

Eggleston was born to a Parsi mother from Mumbai and a father who renamed himself Raboon. He graduated from Carmel High School in Carmel, California and, played the cello as a member of the Youth Music Monterey orchestra in Monterey Bay. Later he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, on a full scholarship; the first ever awarded to a string player. There Eggleston studied cello with Associate Professor Eugene Friesen and graduated in May 2003.

Career

After releasing a small-press album called Nico and Rushad in 1999, Eggleston made his large-scale recording debut with his self-titled Compass Records release with Fiddlers 4, which was nominated for a 2002 Grammy, as well as with Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, bringing him to national prominence. Eggleston has toured extensively with Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, Fiddler's 4, and the alternative folk/bluegrass group he helped found, Crooked Still. Crooked Still released two CDs with Eggleston, Hop High in 2004 and Shaken by a Low Sound in 2006. Eggleston also released a more experimental album named Playhouse of the Universe on July 10, 2006 with The Wild Band of Snee, as well as the album, Rushad Eggleston & The Butt Wizards. Eggleston left Crooked Still in November 2007 to pursue other styles of music. He was replaced by Brittany Haas on fiddle & Tristan Clarridge on cello.
Eggleston has been an instructor at Mark O'Connor's fiddle camps from 2001 to 2007, as well as at Mike Block's String Camp in 2012 and 2013. He has also taught Cello at Maine Fiddle Camp at camp NEOFA, at Valley of the Moon, Big Sur Fiddle Camp, and Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp. Eggleston has also guest lectured at colleges & universities including Berkelee, Cornish, Bates College, and Oberlin. Eggleston gave a TEDx talk in 2013 at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto.
Eggleston formed the power trio Tornado Rider consisting of Scott Manke and Graham Terry in 2008, and their debut album Do You Have Time was followed up by Jark Matter. The high energy performances have included Eggleston crowd surfing repeatedly and climbing stage scaffolding. Tornado Rider has been equated with frogs playing metal, and many of the songs are simple yet catchy anthems about animals. Tornado Rider fans are strongest in Florida and the southeast, and the band will occasionally reunite to play festivals..
Eggleston released his first full-length solo album, The Rushad Eggleston Show in 2013. This was followed by twin albums Very Advanced Song Machine and Growl & Glide, his first solo cello recording, in 2015. He has been touring as a solo act since 2013, often referring to himself as Rushadicus or simply as the Cello Goblin. Eggleston has brought the Land of Sneth to people in places like Australia, Bali, Lithuania, and Sicily, building a snethwork of global fans.
In 2015, Eggleston did a brief tour featuring duet concerts with guitarist Beppe Gambetta, after playing in Beppe's hometown of Genoa, Italy for the Acoustic Nights festival.

Personal life

Eggleston married Mouse Princess on September 27, 2015 in Big Sur, CA. They divorced in 2018. Rushad constantly publishes videos on his Facebook fan page, where currently his song "Bush Charge" holds the record for most views at over 750k.

Selected discography