With the recent retirement of guitarist/vocalist Dudley Connell after nearly three decades, The Seldom Scene had big shoes to fill. But for a band whose genesis dates back to 1971, this isn’t the first, or even second time they have faced this dilemma.
The fabled group launched with John Starling on guitar, alongside fellow hall-of-famers John Duffey on mandolin, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Mike Auldridge on reso-guitar, and Tom Gray on bass. All save Tom have since passed, but the band continues on.
When Starling left the Scene in 1977, it seemed like the sort of loss that a group would have trouble surviving. He was among the most popular vocalists in bluegrass at the time, and his resonant baritone voice was as much a trademark of the group as Duffey’s soaring tenor. They very nearly brought Tony Rice in to fill that void, but it was not to be.
Over the intervening years, Phil Rosenthal filled that spot, as did Moodi Klein, Lou Reid, and Starling again for brief return, until Connell accepted the gig in 1995. Current members Fred Travers and Ronnie Simpkins joined then as well.
Now, at the end of 2024, The Seldom Scene welcomes fiery flatpicker and singer Clay Hess to the band in Dudley’s stead. Clay has been a popular bluegrass artist for many years, working with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Mountain Heart, Sierra Hull, Tim Shelton, and with his own Clay Hess Band this past 12 years.
The current members had been discussing having Clay audition for the gig, but when Connell injured himself in a fall the week before what was to have been his final show, it got quickly moved up on the priority scale.
Clay, who has three shows with the band now under his belt, says that it all came out of the blue.
“Dudley had his fall, and they reached out to me on Sunday to see if I could fill in. I figured, ‘why not, this could be fun.’ Ron texted me while I was in church and said that Dudley couldn’t make their show on Saturday. I had to learn 16 songs in six days.
It apparently went OK.”
Of course with a recording lifespan of more than 50 years, Clay will be learning a lot more than 16 songs, but he says that it looks like he will be singing lead on about a third of the material, and harmony on the rest.
“It’s really exciting. Singing in a trio is my favorite thing to do musically. I think I’ll get my fill of that.
I just love singing with Lou.”
Clay and Scene banjoist/fiddler Ron Stewart have played a lot of music together, but less so is true with his other three new bandmates. But he says they fit together like an old sweatshirt.
“The crazy thing to me is that no two of us sound alike, but the blend with the three of us singing sounds really nice.
We all get along together great. It’s like spending time with people I’ve known for thirty years.
This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in years, maybe ever.”
It appears that The Seldom Scene will simply roll on in perpetuity, even with all the original members long gone. One thing’s for sure, they have found a mighty good one in Clay Hess.
Check their tour dates online.
