All Thumbs is a group of five musicians that enjoy playing traditional Bluegrass and Old Time music. The band members hail from Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.  From Left to Right: Keith Hillyard (5-String Banjo), Bob Pope (Guitar), Art Schatz (Fiddle), Allen Pratt (Upright Bass), and Craig Engel (Mandolin).

All Thumbs originated in the 90’s as a compilation of various members of different local Bluegrass and Country Groups. Namely, The Nothing Fancy String Band, Covered Bridge and finally settling into the Lost River Bluegrass Band, not to be confused with the nationally known group. LRBB played together for about 5 years at High Hopes Balloon Festival, town concerts and First Night Manchester sharing their last bill with White Mountain Bluegrass. The group disbanded and ventured into other musical interests.

Original members of LRBB, Bob Pope and Craig Engel ultimately teamed up with Keith Hillyard to form All Thumbs. The name All Thumbs originated as a joke but soon became the group’s motto and it stuck. We also considered calling ourselves Take Two Bluegrass since we always seemed to want to do a song one more time to get it more better. Anyway, Claudia Landell joined the group playing bass and singing Cowboy Sweetheart for about one year. The group changed and grew with the addition of fiddler Art Schatz and Allen Pratt who has become the permanent bass player for the group. This group of talented musicians has developed a song list of traditional bluegrass tunes allowing their musical abilities to shine. A mix of hard driving instrumentals and three and four part harmonies is always a must. Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs and Hot Rize are just a few groups whose songs they enjoy singing and playing.