Damon and Gina were backstage at the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards and met up with Neyla Pekarek, cellist for The Lumineers, who explained how she came to join the GRAMMY-nominated band.

The American folk rockers were nominated for two GRAMMY’s at this year’s ceremony, including Best New Artist, an accomplishment Pekarek was very proud of.

“We are very lucky to be in the position we are in,” the classically trained cellist stated. “I never thought I would be in a band playing the cello.”

Pekarek recalled that her introduction to the group was a little out of the ordinary. “[Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites] moved down from New Jersey to Denver, Colorado. They put out a Craigslist ad for a cellist that I answered… I did tell a lot of people where I was going, and I [met them] in the middle of the day,” she joked.

The cellist proves that you don’t need equipment fit for an orchestra to make GRAMMY nominated music– her cello is far from the best of the best.

“It’s a really crappy cello actually,” Neyla explained. “It’s a student cello that is so beat up… I love it.”

Check out the full interview here:

–Tyler Roman, 96.5 TIC/ Hartford