Gateway Express, a Winnipeg based bluegrass band, has been performing since November, 2007.  They are quickly becoming known around Manitoba for their traditional bluegrass style patterned after the old masters, Bill Munroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmie Martin, Stanley Brothers and the Carter Family.
			Joseph Cotie – guitar, dobro and vocals, first picked up a guitar at around the age of 14 years which was the beginning of his playing guitar and singing.  In the '70's he played & sang country, blues and folk as he hitchhiked across  Canada .  During the 80's Joe put the guitar in the corner and concentrated on obtaining his Inter-Provincial Journeyman Machinist Certificate and raising his family.  A few years back Joe met Bob Whittaker of the Manitoba Bluegrass and Old Tyme Society (MOBS).   Since that day he has become a regular item at the Bluegrass jams, concerts and campouts.  Bluegrass music has become a great passion of Joe's and Gateway Express was born when Joe was invited to bring some of his bluegrass friends and do a spot for the 2007 Westman Jams Christmas Concert.  When Joe is not playing bluegrass, he is either at work or asleep.
	Bass player, Sandra Taylor, was born and raised in southern Manitoba .  Music was just a way of life for her as her parents, both accomplished musicians, often had the house ringing with old-time fiddle music or tunes from the Big Band Era.  Sandra began playing saxophone in her early teens and was soon joining with the family band playing at dances in the area.  After she moved to Winnipeg , music took a back seat to career and family but there was still many week-ends of jamming around “the old piano” back home.  For a number of years she played the autoharp at the infamous family jams until she happened on to a MOBS bluegrass jam at a local Legion.  There she made many good friends and jamming began in earnest.  After a couple of years of being drowned out, Sandra traded the autoharp for a bass guitar.  In Sandra’s words, “The formation of Gateway Express has brought out her ‘ham-bone syndrome’ and she is having the time of her life!”
		Kelly Dueck has been playing the banjo since 1980. He took up the banjo after seeing Earl Scruggs on the Beverly Hillbillies, TV show, and still considers Earl Scruggs to be his biggest influence, as a player. Kelly is an active member of the Manitoba Old Tyme and Bluegrass Society and has played in several Winnipeg bands, including the Bluegrass Revival Orchestra whose claim to fame was “bluegrassifying” Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” as well as other pop tunes, not commonly performed by bluegrass bands. His first love, though, is traditional “golden era” bluegrass like the kind performed by Gateway Express. When he is not playing banjo, Kelly likes spending time with his wife and 9-year-old daughter, as well as working on his Microphone Business, KEL Audio.
	Wayne Cathers, guitar, fiddle, vocals. Wayne has been playing music since childhood.  Starting with piano lessons, he had a music teacher who encouraged him try other instruments.  His piano teacher also encouraged him to play piano for Sunday school, and the organ in church.  Wayne started to learn guitar from his stepfather at about eight years of age, and played at many events around his home town of Grosse Isle Manitoba .  Later in his teenage years, Wayne learned to play fiddle, on a fiddle given to him by his piano teacher.  Wayne and his wife Cheryl later went on to form an old time dance band, and for approximately thirteen years, they played for dances in many halls around the Interlake area.  In the late 1970’s, the Portage La Prairie radio station aired a weekly half hour bluegrass program on Saturday evenings, and this is where Wayne developed his appreciation for bluegrass.  He has been playing bluegrass with friends ever since.  Wayne joined the Manitoba Old Tyme and Bluegrass Society in 2006, and is enjoying the music more than ever.
		Josephine Lloyd, vocals and mandolin, has always been singing. Through the years she has been involved in Kiwanis Music Festivals, Glee Club, Folk/Blues groups and Sweet Adeline’s. She played rhythm guitar as just another way to find opportunities to sing. She finally found her way to the Trancona Legion and Bluegrass Music a few years ago and has never looked back. With the formation of Gateway Express and the inspiration of the band members, Jo happily adopted the mandolin and Bluegrass Harmonies as a fitting direction for her continued musical journey.
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