Pretend Friend is tight, right, genre-defying progressive bluegrass out of Wichita, Kansas. Releasing new music and touring since 2017, Pretend Friend sounds like the quick-pickin' offspring of Robert Plant and the Stanley Brothers. Their performances are high-energy, and each set is loaded with improv jams and harmonies.

Pretend Friend is songwriter and guitarist Grant Boesen, Kansas champion mandolinist Evan Ogborn, bassist and sound engineer Brody Wellman, and banjoist Garrett Briggeman.