The Country Gentlemen Show, formerly known as The Country Gentlemen Tribute Band, has announced the imminent retirement of founding member Dave Propst, mandolinist and tenor vocalist with the group.
The band was initially formed when Dave and former Country Gentlemen bassist Bill Yates, formed a group to bring back the sound of the classic Country Gentlemen after the passing of Charlie Waller in 2004. At that time the act was known as A Tribute to The Country Gentlemen. When Bill died in 2015, the guys decided to continue the group in his honor, and in keeping with his desire to have the music of the Gents live on.
Many players have been a part of this highly entertaining group over the intervening years, but Dave and Mike have remained throughout.
More recently they have renamed the band The Country Gentlemen Show to reflect the fact that they are also recording and performing new songs in the same style.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Mike Phipps offers Propst godspeed as he moves on.
“Dave was a founding member of the band and has stood beside me on stage for nearly 20 years. He has been an integral part of our sound, and will surely be missed. We wish him all the best in the years to come.
His last performance will be Friday, April 11 at the Court Square Theater in Harrisonburg, VA. This is rather fitting since the Harrisonburg area is where Dave was born and raised.”
For Dave, the exit is a bit bittersweet, as he explains along with a more detailed history of the band, and his life in bluegrass.
“It has been an unbelievable musical journey performing with The Country Gentlemen Show on mandolin and vocals for the last 20 years. It all began for me in 1966 when l first heard the Gents doing Bringing Mary Home on a local country radio station on our kitchen radio. It was right then and there that I was hooked.
I started out on guitar (a Truetone that my grandma gave me, and then later, a Kay). When I initially tried the mandolin, l hated it.
Later on, when l was invited to join a band, it’s the mandolin that was missing, so l relented, and that band gave me one that they had available, because I didn’t own one myself. I’ll never forget, it was an old A-50 Gibson A Model. l started working on it to not only try and pick it, but to ‘chop’ on it. Later on, l bought a cheap F Model and started working on my first advanced instrumental by The Country Gentlemen, CG Express.
I’ve played with The Country Gentlemen Show (and on-stage beside my buddy and lead singer, Mike Phipps) now for about 20 years. It all first started back around 2005 with Bill Yates, Darren Beachley and myself being the actual founding members. We met and jammed at Cabin Fever and were just going to do a Tribute CD to the Country Gentlemen. But after the initial recording, and after adding Mike Phipps (with a sound-alike vocal to Charlie Waller), the success of the initially-released CD was such that we ended up starting a touring band. For me, the band has been a blessing and a stepping stone to perform at many great festivals, for meeting the most wonderful people/fans ever, for getting to share the stage with Country Gentlemen alum icons, such as Bill Yates, Bill Emerson, Doyle Lawson, and Tom Gray.
Now, after these 20 years, and even though I’ll always love it, will miss it and all the guys, there’s a multitude of reasons that led me to make the decision to step down. The increasingly active touring schedule is becoming a tad challenging as I am now of the mindset to start to slow down and enjoy life more. The rigors that age brings upon us make the physicalities of life a bit more trying, and travel can aggravate that, and some medical issues that my wife and l are slowly starting to experience, bring us to the realization that it’s just easier to deal with that at home. I feel that the time is right, and am glad that l am able to make the decision to leave on my own terms. I still plan on continuing to perform out, but on a limited basis with other configurations that will afford me to be able to come home each and every night after the gig.
I’d like to personally thank all the brothers l have shared the stage with down through the years, and especially the current ‘brothers-in-arms’ lineup of Mike Phipps, Darren Beachley, Lynwood Lunsford, and Eric Marshall. We’re not blood kin, but we could not be closer or care about one another more than if we actually were. I think the band offers a special musical phenomena that is unique and a rarity to match, and l do wish the band all the success in the world on their continued journey of music and entertainment.
And by the way, please go out and catch yourself a performance. You’ll see what l mean and will be glad that you did!”
You can see the tour schedule for The Country Gentlemen Show online (scroll down a bit).
