Bob Perilla – photo © Jeromie Stephens
Bob Perilla, a commanding presence in the Washington, DC, bluegrass world, died Thursday at his Maryland home. He was 71.
With or without his guitar, Perilla owned any room he entered. And with his band, Big Hillbilly Bluegrass, he helped spread the love of the genre around the world. The band, under a program sponsored by the US State Department, toured in Africa, several former Soviet republics, and elsewhere abroad. He shared updates of some of those trips with readers of Bluegrass Today.
He and his band, with a rotating cast of household-name musicians, were also regulars on the DC circuit, with weekly gigs at Fireflies, Madams Organ, and countless other venues. Over the years he shared the stage with Dick Smith, Akira Otsuka, Mike Munford, Tad Marks, Jon Glik, Tom Mindte, and others.
His guitar playing was as aggressive as his wit was acerbic. But he was also kind and gentle, softly sharing words of encouragement with those who needed to hear them.
A few years back, Perilla was seriously ill and in need of a kidney transplant. Dina Wood stepped forward as a live donor, giving her left kidney to help Perilla recover. He called her frequently ever since, often singing Pancho and Lefty to her as continued thanks for her selfless gift.
He was also seriously injured years back in an incident involving a motorcycle. He had to undergo physical therapy after checking himself out of the hospital before he was fully healed, but was soon back on stage, sharing his love of music.
Perilla was an alumnus of IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass program.
Survivors include a daughter, Celeste, and a son, Frank. A celebration of his life is being planned.
When Bob Perilla was in a room, no one left feeling sad. Today, there’s an empty spot in so many rooms, and much sadness. But many, many wonderful memories will remain.
R.I.P., Bob Perilla.
UPDATE 12/14: Photographer Jeromie Stephens has agreed to make available to the public a PDF copy of the book he produced in 2017 entitled The Big Book of Bob – A Bluegrass Troubadour. It contains 50 of Jeromie’s brilliant black and white photographs of Bob Perilla through the years.
Stephens had 25 copies professionally printed at the time, and donated them to Bob during a surprise party held for that purpose early in 2018. Bob gave many of them away to the guests at that party, which we covered here.
To download a copy of the book, courtesy of Jeromie Stephens, simply follow this link.
