Canada’s CR5 — short for County Road 5 Bluegrass — resides in the backroads of Eastern Ontario, in a town called Lyndhurst, although the original band members all lived in or near the tiny hamlet of McIntosh Mills. The name of the band was in fact spawned from the road that ran through it, Leeds Grenville County Road 5.
CR5 Bluegrass currently consists of Dan Potter (mandolin, vocals), his wife Christine (banjo, vocals), Jim Bossert (bass), Marc Rochon (guitar, vocals), and George Laing (fiddle, vocals). “I am the only remaining founding member of the group,” Potter said. “Christine came to us via our original banjo man, Eugene Martin, who suggested she sit in for him as he was battling an illness. Jim, Marc, and George all came to us due to various retirements.”
Potter describes their sound as a blending of the many musical genres enjoyed by the band’s individual members, with traditional and contemporary bluegrass, old country music, folk, blues, and pop thrown into the mix. “Many performers have influenced the group, including Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Flatt & Scruggs, The Bluegrass Cardinals, John Prine, Kentucky Colonels, Del McCoury, and The Grascals,” he added.
To date, the band has performed primarily in Eastern Ontario, but they’ve also ventured to Western Quebec and Central and Northern Ontario. “We have never toured due to jobs and other commitments, but have stayed pretty busy within our own region,” Potter noted. “We have played every major festival in Ontario, with the exception of River Valley. We were slated to play there in 2020, but that was stymied by the pandemic. Hopefully, we’ll get there sometime in the not too distant future.”
In the meantime, CR5 has done well, having been given the opportunity to open for a number of notables, among them, Molly Tuttle, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Sideline, Dave Adkins & Ernie Evans, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle, and The Grascals. They’ve also shared stages with various Canadian-based headliners, such as The Abrams Brothers and The Slocan Ramblers.
In 2018, CR5 was voted Most Promising Group at the Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards. In addition, the band also received nominations for Gospel Group Of the Year in 2018 and again in 2019, along with a Recording Of the Year nomination in 2016. In 2017, they were nominated for induction into The Brockville & Area Performing Arts Hall Of Fame.
“Our music is well received by bluegrass fans and music fans in general, in no small part due to the variety of tunes we perform in any given set,” Potter continued. “Back in 2015, we recorded a CD of all original numbers with the exception of Whiskey Before Breakfast, which we recorded in the key of G versus the traditional key of D, and titled it Up North. It received air-play throughout Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Northern New York State. One of our original tunes, which I composed, When You Walk Into a Room, features Joe White on fiddle, and was also recorded by Bob Covey.”
Potter said that the band’s live set tends to be mix of covers and original material culled from their album. “We play a variety of music, from the traditional Flatt & Scruggs Someone Took My Place With You and Groundspeed, to John Denver’s Country Roads, the South American instrumental El Comanchero, the soul standard Hold On I’m Comin’, Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Side of the Mountain, and jazz violinist Armand J. Piron’s I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, all of it with our own ‘bluegrassified’ sound.”
While CR5’s diverse approach can be credited with spreading the appeal of bluegrass beyond any sort of familiarity factor, Potter said he believes there’s also ample reason for popularity in general.
“I believe bluegrass has a broad appeal due to its acoustic properties, and the fact that the songs speak of common themes,” he suggested. “They tell stories that people of all nationalities can relate to.”
