Alan Munde Archives - Bluegrass Today

Dave Ferguson passes

Banjo legend Alan Munde shared this lovely remembrance of his friend and bandmate, fiddler Dave Ferguson, who died recently at 75 years of age.

I learned through Dave Ferguson’s bother, Greg, that Dave died of a brain tumor. Dave was the fiddle player in Country Gazette following Byron Berline’s departure from the group in late 1974. There couldn’t have been a better musical choice to take Byron’s place.

Dave came up in the rich musical milieu that was Fort Worth, Texas in the ’60s and ’70s. North Texas was full of many great fiddlers, influencing Byron and in turn Dave. Dave loved Byron’s playing and could play Sally Goodin’ as close to Byron as anyone. But he was more than just a Byron clone. He had grown up with the music of Delbert McClinton, later playing in his band. He played with his Fort Worth buddy, award-winning singer, songwriter, and actor Stephen Bruton. He was a much sought after musician in his area and could cover many musical bases. Country Gazette was fortunate that Dave accepted the gig with the group.

Almost immediately in 1975 Gazette did a tour of Europe with Dave. He filled the bill perfectly, he played fiddle the best, he played mandolin, and could sing the parts. He was great. Because of family considerations, he left the group near the end of that same year. Even though he left the group, we stayed in contact and Dave participated on many recordings with the group, and with me. He was on the Country Gazette album, Out To Lunch on the Flying Fish label, he was the fiddle player on my first album, Banjo Sandwich, and later I played on his solo album, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Much later Dave helped me with Cotton Patch Rag and Powder Creek, for the Stelling Banjo project.

https://youtu.be/tABKPs7op6U

Dave came to a few Country Gazette reunions hosted by Byron Berline at the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie, Oklahoma. It was there that I saw and played with Dave the last time.

Dave was in all ways a great musician, and a dear and joyous friend.

Here is a clip of Dave playing Huckleberry Hornpipe at a contest, possibly the Grand Masters in Nashville, TN.

R.I.P., Dave Ferguson.

Bill Evans and Alan Munde touring together

Great news for banjo players and lovers on the east coast!

Two fine practitioners of the five string banjo, Bill Evans and Alan Munde, will be embarking on a two-week tour throughout the central and southeastern US. Hitting ten cities, the two will offer live stage performances together, demonstrating the versatility of the instrument in a variety of styles, along with instructional workshops at several of their stops.

Things get started on January 26 in Greensboro, NC, and finish on February 10 in Floyd, VA. Other shows/workshops are scheduled in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Delaware, and Maryland.

Evans has been involved in bluegrass and banjo professionally since he was in college, performing with groups like Cloud Valley and Dry Branch Fire Squad before turning his attention to a solo career as a performer, instructor, and recording artist. Among the most consistently sought-after teachers at camps and workshops world wide, Bill is also on the faculty at Peghead Nation, and created a number of popular DVDs for AcuTab Publications in the early aughts. He is a 2022 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.

Not many banjo players alive have received the level of acclaim that has been awarded to Alan Munde. Like Evans, he is a recipient of the Martin Prize, and got his professional start as a member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys. Along his lengthy career, Alan performed with Sam Bush in Poor Richard’s Almanac, and on a pair of duet albums, before becoming a member of Country Gazette while living in California. Munde remained with the Gazette until he retired a couple of years ago, after having recorded dozens of albums with the band, and on his own. He was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2022.

This is a unique opportunity to see one of these tours on the east coast, as Bill used to primarily offer such events out west when he lived in California. Now returned to his home state of Virginia, folks back east can enjoy these entertaining and enlightening programs close to home.

Dates on the tour include:

January 26 – Greensboro, NC; concert only
January 27 – Bloomingdale, GA; concert and workshop
January 31 – Johnson City, TN; concert only
February 2 – Newark, DE; concert only
February 3 – Philadelphia, PA; concert and workshop
February 4 – Falls Church, VA; concert and workshop
February 5 – Baltimore, MD; concert only
February 7 – Charlottesville, VA; concert only
February 8 – Waynesboro, VA; workshop
February 9 – Raleigh, NC; concert and workshop
February 10 – Floyd, VA; concert only

Further details, including times, locations, and ticket information, can be found online.

Excelsior – Alan Munde

Alan Munde needs no introduction in the world of banjo. The American Banjo Hall of Fame member has inspired and taught legions of players through his numerous recordings, instructional materials, and at music workshops nationwide. His latest solo release, Excelsior, gives us that sheer originality and sense of adventure we’ve come to expect in Munde’s recorded work.

All but two of the fifteen tunes on Excelsior were composed by Munde. The opening track, Longfellow’s Excelsior Hornpipe, is a great example of the melodic playing that’s so closely associated with Alan’s banjo style. This also features stellar mandolin picking from both Kym Warner and Billy Bright. As with several other tunes on this project, Dom Fisher provides wonderful bass backing.

Lloyd’s of Lubbock was written in honor of Alan’s longtime friend, Lloyd Maines. A country flavored tune, this piece features masterful steel guitar work from Maines as well as solid percussion from Pat Manske.

Miss Kitty’s Hornpipe is one of several tunes that include the instrumentation of just banjo and mandolin. This piece written in an old time vein pairs Munde with Emory Lester. The two instrumentalists play off each other really well on this track. It’s a good study for musicians on the subject of dynamics.

Another track that features this instrumentation is Byron’s Buddies, written in memory of another longstanding friend and musical collaborator, Byron Berline. With Sam Bush on mandolin, Munde honors Berline’s legacy with this three part tune paying homage to the Texas contest style of fiddling that Byron was a master of. While Bush presents fine lead work here, his rhythm backing is phenomenal. It’s reminiscent of the backup provided by guitar players for contest fiddlers. Though he’s playing mandolin, he captures the feel of it so well.

Hymn For Slim is a solo piece that Alan wrote thinking of Slim Richey, an important figure in both Munde’s journey and Texas music in general. This track captures Alan’s distinct banjo tone and his imaginative compositional ideas in more of a jazz idiom.

Holler Up A Possum is one of two tunes written by Elliott Rogers. Along with Rogers on guitar and Billy Bright on mandolin, this track features excellent slap bass from Dom Fisher.

Stay With Me Waltz is a track that should get the attention of the mandolin players listening. Featuring Kym Warner on mandolin, Billy Bright on mandolin and mandola, and Paul Glasse on electric mandolin, this dream-like tune has a beautiful melody which is enhanced by each of the mandolinists.

Also included is first tune ever composed by Alan at age sixteen, The Ten Cent Breakfast. Inspired by the steel guitar styles of Tom Brumley and Buddy Charleton, this composition incorporates ideas from those two players onto the five string banjo. Featuring Maines again on steel guitar, Josh Baca on accordion, Billy Bright on mandolin, and Pat Manske on percussion, this track captures the adventurous spirit of Alan’s instrumental approach.

My father, a banjoist himself, has said that Alan is “a banjo player’s banjo player.” Excelsior makes a great case for that declaration. It’s chock full of Munde’s inventiveness. With a career spanning well over fifty years, it’s clear that Alan isn’t finished creating and bringing new ideas forward.

Banjo Hall of Famer Alan Munde looks back on the early days

This look at the early days of banjo legend Alan Munde’s career was occasioned by his induction this year into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.

Native Oklahoman Alan Munde, while attending Oklahoma University in the 1960s, crossed paths with the original tall fiddler, Byron Berline, an event that changed his life. This, and other aspects of his early banjo life were recently shared with me by Alan.

“I was 14 when my older brother went to the US Navy. When he came home, he brought a guitar (arch backed Key), and a record on how to play. Folk Singers Guitar Guide, it was a 78 rpm,” Munde stated. That’s when the bug of playing and entertaining bit, and the rest has just fallen into place.

Munde spent a lot of time at the local music store in Norman, OK, Mike Richey’s Guitar Center. According to Alan, “Music stores and record stores were the only contact to the outside music world. I saved up my money from my paper route, and bought myself a Pete Seeger Vega Ranger. I think it cost $100-$150, which was a lot of money. And I began lessons soon after. Dad would drive me out to the Luther Jones area, to Gary Price’s. I took two lessons from him, but that was enough for my interest in bluegrass, and got me started.” Munde started teaching lessons himself at Richey’s music store when he was around 18 years old. This was during the folk music boom. Listening to Lawrence Welk and Chet Atkins is part of how his interest peaked even further.

While at Oklahoma University, Munde joined the Old Club Athletic Club and played music. This was in 1965-1966. A year later Lou Berline introduced Munde to Sam Bush in Independence Missouri. “I backed up Lou Berline, Byron’s dad, and learned the Texas backup style of playing. We went to fiddle contests throughout Oklahoma and Texas. It was a thrill to play with Byron, as he had already done things to contribute to the music world.”

Munde was majoring in secondary education/social science, and graduated in 1969 with his bachelors degree. Later in the fall of 1969, Harlow Wilcox took Munde to Nashville for a DJ Convention to promote his then current single, Groovy Grubworm. They stayed at the Noel Hotel, and were blessed to jam on that trip with Vassar Clements. That evening Al Olsteen of Jim & Jesse introduced Alan to Jimmy Martin, the hub of a wheel beginning to turn. One week later Munde auditioned at the Noel Hotel and became Jimmy’s banjo player. He played with Sunny Mountain Boys from 1969-1971.

Munde was introduced to The Stone Mountain Boys by Byron Berline. Eddie Shelton, their banjo player, is who Alan credits for his knowledge of the banjo. “One time we had a gig in Texas, and I rode the bus to Texas. After the gig, I missed the bus, and Eddie drove as fast as possible and waved the bus down so I could get home,” Alan, while laughing, said.

In 1969, only 4 years after graduating, Munde joined and played a vital part in creating a new group Poor Richard’s Almanac. “Wayne Stewart had this idea for a group with this kid he knew in Kentucky named Sam Bush, who was probably 15. So I moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and we formed Poor Richard’s Almanac. Not long after, I got my draft notice, but before I left, Sam, Wayne, and I made this tape, later released by Ridge Runner Records, called Poor Richard’s Almanac. That was a lot of the instrumental things we were doing. I then went back to Oklahoma, was rejected by the Army, and worked in Norman that summer.”

In 1972, Berline, then a member of The Flying Burrito Brothers, was preparing to tour in Europe, when the unexpected happened. Chris Hillman left the band and Byron called Munde, and Alan joined them in Europe to play the electric guitar. “The guitar was provided by the band, and I turned the volume down, because I didn’t know any of the songs,” laughed Alan.

Soon after, Berline and Roger Bush formed The Country Gazette with Alan on banjo. It was in 1972 that their first record, A Traitor in Our Midst, was released by United Artists. From an earlier conversation with Berline, I had already known about this controversial album cover, but through further conversation with Munde, I recalled that earlier discussion with Byron. “Norman Scieff, of United Artists, was in charge of costumes and album design. He took us to the costume department, and we literally tried on outfits as we came upon them. Scieff would say, ‘try this on.’ We hadn’t decided on a cover idea, but then we located some Bandito costumes. In the neck of mine, Charlton Hesston was written. It was a sexist cover for sure. Many people thought we were smoking pot on the cover, but it was cigarillos.”

https://youtu.be/NdnOOpu52tU

Munde has played a vital role in the 5 string banjo world, and has stacked up some awards as well. In 2021, he was the co-recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, along with Don Vappie. “Don was mailed my award letter, and I got his,” Alan said with a smile. In 2022, Alan Munde was inducted into the American Banjo Music Hall of Fame.

Alan is loaded with personality, and I learned a lot from him as he taught a workshop at The American Banjo Museum over the weekend he was inducted. Turned out in his New Balance tennis shoes, a blue sweatshirt, and shorts with a ball cap perched atop his head, Munde sat center stage, and with no ego expressed the following: “If all else fails, play the melody. You must know roll logic. That’s part of the melody.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Munde was asked, “What is a lick?” He answered with a giggle, “Who knows?” “Why is the marker on the 1st fret?” “Because we are banjo players.”

For inspiration today Munde listens to Chet Atkins, different types of music from the 1950s, and watches anything he can find with guitar.

What a walk down memory lane! It seems that Byron Berline was always in the corner of Munde’s memories, and as it happened, most of the major events in his music career were in the month of October. Coincidentally, so is the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival that Byron started.

Alan Munde teaches at a banjo workshop in Oklahoma City, October 2022 – photo © Pamm Tucker

Roland White remembered – his life in music

Roland and Clarence White/Roland White and Diane Bouska – photo by Nicole Christianson

Pioneer, multi-instrumentalist and singer Roland White, primarily a mandolin player with a career spanning over six decades, passed away on April 1, 2022, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee following complications of a heart attack. He was 83 years old.

Of Acadian-French-Canadian ancestry, Roland Joseph LeBlanc (“the White” translated into English) was born in Madawaska, Maine, on April 23, 1938, growing up in a musical family. His father, Eric, Sr., played the guitar, tenor banjo, fiddle, and harmonica, while several uncles played guitar and piano.

At family gatherings, young Roland, the eldest sibling, and sister Joanne would join in the music making by singing. At the age of eight his father showed Roland his first chords on guitar, and two years he later got his first mandolin.

Along with his father, sister (bass), and brothers Eric (tenor banjo) and Clarence (guitar), they played in a country music ensemble simply called The White Family. One of White’s first public performances was at a local Grange Hall entertainment show in Chinalake, Maine. They did standard country numbers like Ragtime Annie, Golden Slippers, Rubber Dolly and Under The Double Eagle.

Shortly after he turned 16 In 1954, the White family relocated to Burbank, California, and the brothers formed a trio, the Three Little Country Boys.

Prompted by a comment made by his uncle Armand in the middle of 1955, Roland White began to investigate the music of Bill Monroe and bought a Monroe 45, A Mighty Pretty Waltz / Pike County Breakdown (Decca 9-28356). White recalls seeing Monroe sometime later on the TV show, Town Hall Party.

As he began to learn more about the music of Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Reno & Smiley, the Stanley Brothers, and Jimmy Martin, their act became more bluegrass orientated. White even learned to play Scruggs-style banjo.

Shortly thereafter (in October 1955), they learned of a talent contest called the Country Show, hosted by Carl “Squeakin’ Deacon” Moore, that took place every Sunday on radio station KXLA in Pasadena. In one show they won first place, leading to regular appearances on local radio – The Old Riverside Rancho Show included – and regional TV programs, such as Cal’s Corral, The County Barndance Jubilee, Hometown Jubilee, and Town Hall Party.

At the age of 19 Roland White went to Nashville where he met banjo player Billy Ray Lathum, who then moved to California from Cave City, Arkansas. In addition to Lathum they recruited southern Californian LeRoy ‘Mack’ McNees (dobro) to form a quintet that made its first recordings as The Country Boys; a 45-rpm single on the Sundown label pairing a cover version of Flatt & Scruggs’s I’m Head Over Heels in Love With You with a song, credited to a fellow Sundown artist Bill Lowe, called Kentucky Hills (SD 45-131).

Regularly, two nights every week, they appeared at the Frontier Club in Pomona, California.

Roland White, Eric White, Clarence White in a home video at a family picnic in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, April 1958

The Country Boys at ages 20 (Roland), 18 (Eric) and 14 (Clarence).

Until about 1959, they had little contact with any live bluegrass or acoustic music except through occasional concerts on Town Hall Party. The Ash Grove, a trendy Hollywood coffee house owned by Ed Pearl, was to be the scene of their introduction to many folk acts. Through the New Lost City Ramblers, they met Ed Pearl, manager of the club, who subsequently booked The Country Boys. At the time, Clarence and Eric were still in school and the others had day jobs.

A CBS cameraman saw a performance of the Country Boys at the Ash Grove and, impressed with what he heard and saw, forwarded his feedback to producers at the Andy Griffith Show (on NBC-TV). Shortly afterwards, the group received a call from Steve Stebbins of Americana Corporation (Woodland Hills, California), asking if they would be interested in appearing on the program.

As a result, in February 1961, The Country Boys appeared on the famous TV show. They featured in two episodes, Mayberry On Record (#19) and Quiet Sam (#29), although Roland was absent from the second due to army commitments.

Andy Griffith – Whoa Mule

February 13, 1961

The four songs they played on the show appeared later on an omnibus album with the title Songs, Themes & Laughs From The Andy Griffith Show, which was released on the Capitol label (Capitol ST-1611, 1962).

Around that same month The Country Boys recorded their second single, On The Mountain (Stands My Love) / The Valley Below, which was released by Republic (2013, April 1961).

In the summer of 1961 Eric White left the band to get married, whereupon the group invited Roger Bush to be the new bass player. This new combination teamed up with singer and guitarist Hal Poindexter for a single – Ain’t Gonna Worry ‘Bout Tomorrow / Carolina Sweetheart – for Hi-Lee Records (1804).

The Country Boys’ first real road work was a tour to Missouri, where a friend had found a job for them. However, it was cut short when Roland White was drafted to serve in the army, for which he did about two years in West Germany beginning about April 1961, and ending in in September 1963. In his absence The Country Boys cut a single and album, The New Sound Of Bluegrass America, for Paul Cohen’s Briar Records (M-109), released in the name of The Kentucky Colonels. White returned in time to participate in the making Appalachian Swing, the groundbreaking 12-tune instrumental LP that one reviewer proclaimed it to be, “one of the most influential albums in the whole of bluegrass music.”

Roland White & Jan Johansson – I am a Pilgrim (a workshop)

Marge Seeger and Ed Pearl booked an eastern tour for the band, starting in late 1963, during which they played such places as The Exodus in Denver; The Retort in Detroit; and Club 47 and The Broadside in Cambridge; The Ontario Place in Washington, DC; The Second Fret in Philadelphia; and the Unicorn Coffeehouse in Boston.

The Kentucky Colonels also appeared at Gerde’s Folk City in New York City for a week in November 1963.

In 1964 they made appearances at the Newport Folk Festival and clubs and coffeehouses across the country. On March 25, they appeared at the 2nd Annual UCLA Folk Festival in Los Angeles, and that same month Roland and Clarence White helped Tut Taylor cut an album of dobro instrumentals.

From July 23 to 26, 1964 the Kentucky Colonels appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Recordings from their performances there found there way onto a Vanguard album.

This is typical of their recording catalogue as, other than Appalachian Swing, they never did any studio sessions.

Their subsequent albums feature recordings from the Comedian Theater (on November 15, 1964); at the Ash Grove between March 27 and April 3, 1965; a Vancouver concert recorded January 15, 1965; again, at the Ash Grove (on March 27, 1965); at the Cobblestone Club in North Hollywood (in August 1965). These last two sets included the mercurial fiddler Scotty Stoneman.

Other locations where the Kentucky Colonels played during the two-year period 1964-1965 included clubs and coffeehouses across the country, including Gerde’s Folk City in New York and Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as a return appearance at the Newport Folk Festival and frequent runs at the Ash Grove.

The Kentucky Colonels appeared as musicians in the movie The Farmer’s Other Daughter (1965), a bawdy comedy that included the song The Ballad Of Farmer Brown, sung by country music entertainer Ernest Ashworth and The Kentucky Colonels. A single featuring the song coupled with For Lovin’ Me was released in May 1965 (World Pacific 427). The band members were Roland White (mandolin), Clarence White (guitar), Billy Ray Lathum (banjo), and Roger Bush (bass). Richard Greene sat in on rhythm guitar along with an unidentified drummer.

Ernest Ashworth & Kentucky Colonels, The Farmer’s Other Daughter, etc.

As public taste turned toward rock ‘n’ Roll, The Kentucky Colonels disbanding briefly due to lack of work, doing their last performance on October 31, 1965.

By 1966, Clarence White, who had begun playing more electric guitar, left to do studio work, which eventually led to his joining the Byrds. Hence following the consequential dissolution of the Kentucky Colonels, Roland White played electric bass in several country music lounge bands in southern California to help make ends meet.

While on a California tour in May of 1967, Bill Monroe invited Clarence White to join the Blue Grass Boys, but he suggested that Monroe hire Roland to play guitar instead. The brothers were filling in at the Ash Grove as Monroe’s bus had broken down in Texas, leaving band members stranded there for a while. Roland joined the tour as a guest, and at the end of it was hired as the replacement for Doug Green, who was returning to college.

Roland White, speaking at the 2011 International Folk Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, relates how he went to work for Bill Monroe.

And during this period, he participated in three recording sessions with Monroe, cutting a total of nine tracks. Among the more memorable performances are The Gold Rush, Kentucky Mandolin, I Want To Go With You, on which White sings baritone, and the first recording of a haunting duet called The Walls of Time, with White singing lead. For this duet, in order to be level with Monroe, the diminutive White had to stand on a soft-drink box.

Five numbers were released on singles, although The Walls of Time remained unavailable until 1994. All recordings are included on the Bear Family 4-CD set Bill Monroe – Bluegrass 1959-1969.

Also, White was involved in the recording of Train 45 Heading South for a live radio / TV syndicated broadcast for National Life Grand Ole Opry, a performance subsequently made commercially available on a compilation by Opryland Home Video (JB 1914).

Bill Monroe (vocals and mandolin); Kenny Baker (fiddle); Vic Jordan (banjo); Roland White (guitar); and James Monroe (bass) – December 20, 1968

Life working for Monroe was far from being all-glamourous with regular appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and other big stages; White had to do a lot off-stage also. White once recalled how life was living off the bus, he was plunged into working at the somewhat chaotic environment of the Monroe’s first Bean Blossom festival – the Big Bluegrass Celebration in June 1967 – where he was still selling tickets and taking attendance money five minutes before he was due on stage, and he wasn’t properly dressed for the occasion. He helped to build the new 30-foot-wide stage and associated seating area out in the woods.

Bill Monroe & The Blue Grass Boys – Live – Bean Blossom, Indiana – 1967. 1st Annual Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, billed as a Big Bluegrass Celebration

Bill Monroe, James Monroe, Roland White, Butch Robins and Byron Berline.

In the 1968 festival, although playing guitar for Monroe, White participated in the mandolin workshop alongside Monroe and Jesse McReynolds.

In September of that year White played mandolin on Kenny Baker’s second album.

White worked for Monroe for a little under two years, appearing around the country with performances at Carlton Haney’s third Labor Day weekend festival, Watermelon Park; across to Bill Grant’s festival in Oklahoma; in California; in Fort Worth, Texas; and at the DJ Convention in Nashville in the very early months, being indicative of the hectic life on the road with the Father of Bluegrass Music.

Starting in 1997 White organized the Bill Monroe Appreciation Nights which ran for about 20 years or so paying tribute to Bill Monroe’s music. They attracted appreciative audiences who enjoyed being entertained by the incredible talent that White was able to call upon.

Before White left the Blue Grass Boys they made a trip overseas to play at US military bases in Italy and Germany.

Shocked by the dissolution of Flatt’s partnership with Earl Scruggs, White became an original member of Lester Flatt’s Nashville Grass, allowing him to return to his more accustomed role as a mandolin picker.

After some rehearsals, the new band taped a variety of radio and TV shows, including programs for Martha White. They then hit the road with bookings in New Jersey, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The Nashville Grass even played up in Ontario, Canada, while out east.

In September 1969 White participated in the first of about 20 different recording sessions that produced a little less than 100 songs and tunes altogether.

These were distributed among several albums including Flatt Out, The One And Only Lester Flatt, Flatt on Victor, Kentucky Ridgerunner, On The South Bound, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, and Lester Flatt – Country Boy.

Additionally, White contributed to three memorable albums, namely Lester ‘n’ Mac, On the South Bound, and Over the Hills to the Poorhouse, that Lester Flatt did with his old singing partner Mac Wiseman.

Lester Flatt: Little Cabin Home

Live 1971 Renfro Valley, Kentucky; Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass

Roland White solo I’m Just A Used To Be

Live 1973 Renfro Valley; Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass

White left the Nashville Grass towards the end of January 1973, after doing his last recordings with Flatt.

He reunited with his brothers, Clarence and Eric, but the grouping, known as the New Kentucky Colonels (with Herb Pedersen and Alan Munde), was tragically cut short when Clarence was killed by a drunk driver. However, replacing The Dillards at short notice, they did make one overseas tour in the spring, and returned to the States for appearances on the east and west coasts.

There are two LPs documenting their time in Europe; The New Kentucky Colonels Live in Holland and The White Brothers: Live in Sweden, recorded at the Mosebacke club, Stockholm, Sweden on May 28 and 29.

One of their gigs – on May 11, 1973 – in Breda, The Netherlands was broadcast live on VPRO’s Friday-evening radio show

That same year, Roland joined Country Gazette, the popular Los Angeles-based band that also included former Blue Grass Boy, Byron Berline. White joined the band as a guitarist but later reverted to mandolin. Other members at the time included banjoist Alan Munde, and bass player Roger Bush.

The group’s blending of bluegrass and country-rock did much to foster the progressive movement in bluegrass in the United States and secured a loyal following for the group in Europe.

In the fall of 1978 the new Country Gazette line-up recorded their first album All This And Money Too? (Ridge Runner 0017)

He played mandolin on the recordings for eight albums with Country Gazette before leaving in 1988. These include Country Gazette Live, Out to Lunch, What a Way to Make a Living, All This and Money Too?, American And Clean, America’s Bluegrass Band, Bluegrass Tonight!, and Strictly Instrumental.

While working with Country Gazette, White released his first solo record, I Wasn’t Born to Rock ‘n’ Roll. With backing by members of the band, the album featured a mixture of traditional and contemporary material. Included were two songs by former employers Bill Monroe (Can’t You Hear Me Calling) and Lester Flatt (If I Should Wander Back Tonight).

When in the summer of 1979 singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale made a pilgrimage to Nashville from North Carolina he had two goals; to work with and befriend Roland White and George Jones. White became a mentor to the 22-year-old Lauderdale, and realizing that he had talent, he arranged to cut an album with Lauderdale. The recordings took place in Earl Scruggs’ basement studio with a band that included Marty Stuart on guitar, Gene Wooten on dobro, and Johnny Warren on fiddle. Lauderdale couldn’t find a label to release the Roland White-produced album, and until 2017 the tapes were thought to have been lost. Jim Lauderdale and Roland White finally saw the light of day on August 3, 2018.

Country Gazette – Saro Jane [on the TV program New Country]

White moved a little closer to traditional bluegrass music when in early 1982 he teamed up with luminaries Béla Fleck, Blaine Sprouse, Pat Enright, Mark Hembree, and Jerry Douglas to form a fun band known as the Dreadful Snakes. Taking their name from the title of the early 1950s Bill Monroe song The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake, their inaugural gig was at J.T. Gray’s Station Inn.

After Fleck sent a tape of the show to Ken Irwin (Rounder Records) the group cut their only album, Snakes Alive, at the Studio By The Pond, Hendersonville, Tennessee. It was regarded as one of the highpoints of recorded bluegrass during the 1980s.

During all this period White remained an active member of Country Gazette.

White made his debut with The Nashville Bluegrass Band, a group that had been in existence since 1984, when he joined them on stage at Nashville’s Station Inn on February 3, 1989. His first official gig was at the SPBGMA Convention later that month. During his tenure with them, he appeared on five albums. All received Grammy nominations and two – Waitin’ for the Hard Times to Go and Unleashed – earned awards in the Best Bluegrass Album category. While with The Nashville Bluegrass Band, White recorded his second solo album, Trying To Get To You.

They appeared regularly on The Nashville Network, were frequent guests on the Grand Ole Opry, performed at the prestigious Carnegie Hall, and toured as far afield as Europe, Brazil, and China.

Rooted in tradition, The Nashville Bluegrass Band still had an eye on then-current trends.

Never one to allow misfortune to trouble him unduly, when White broke a leg in mid-December 1994, he returned for the New Year’s Eve show and for over two months he played sitting down.

Long Time Gone / New Born Soul (The Blind Boys of Alabama) – The Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Grand Ole Opry ….

In 1994 he released another solo project, Trying To Get To You (Sugar Hill), recorded at Rich Adler’s Suite 2000, Belleview, Nashville. Instrumentally, it included Stuart Duncan and Gene Libbea of The Nashville Bluegrass Band; David Grier, Richard Bailey (who worked with White later), and Gene Wooten. Roland’s wife Diane Bouska, Alan O’Bryant, and Pat Enright all contributed vocally.

Nashville Bluegrass Band, Graves Mountain, 1995

Trying To Get To You foretold the transition to his own group, which happened after about ten years with the Nashville Bluegrass Band. As another example of this forthcoming change, Roland White and Diane Bouska were international guest artists at the Harrietville National Bluegrass and Traditional Country Music Convention in Victoria, Australia, in 1997.

The newly formed Roland White Band consisted of Bouska (vocal and guitar), Richard Bailey (banjo) and Todd Cook (bass). Jon Weisberger (vocal and bass] and Brian Christianson [vocal and fiddle) joined later.

The band’s debut recording, Jelly On My Tofu, in 2002, received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album.

New River Train – Roland White Band live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California; May-11, 2013

Roland White (mandolin); Diane Bouska (guitar); Herb Pedersen (banjo); Bill Bryson (bass) and Blaine Sprouse (fiddle)

Straight-Ahead Bluegrass is simply that, giving White the opportunity to share some of his “traditional bluegrass favorites” with his regular Roland White Band members. As Weisberger relates in his liner notes, “whether new or old, each [song] is filled with the lifetime of experience—and the vitality and the good humor—that Roland White brings every time he puts pick to strings and steps before a microphone to sing.”

In 2018 White recruited several of bluegrass music’s most exciting young musicians alongside some with more experience; Brooke and Darin Aldridge, Kristin Scott Benson (The Grascals), Aaron Bibelhauser, Russ Carson (Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder), Jeremy Darrow, Nick Dauphinais, Gina Furtado, Jeremy Garrett (The Infamous Stringdusters), David Grier, Brittany Haas (Hawktail), Josh Haddix, Justin Hiltner, Lindsay Lou, Kimber Ludiker (Della Mae), Drew Matulich, Patrick McAvinue, Darren Nicholson, Lyndsay Pruett, Jon Stickley, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Jon Weisberger, to record Roland White and Friends, A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonels.

The CD, which includes updated versions of twelve songs and tunes that were recorded or performed by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1960s and 1970s, recaptured “the spirit of the past and brings it to the present, transforming the music into modern-day classics,” according to one commentator.

As one would expect, White’s mandolin playing, and singing are solid and entertaining throughout.

He was ubiquitous at the Station Inn, either watching other people’s shows or putting on events of his own. When the Roland White Band played there, he would invariably spot younger musicians in the audience and get them up to play with the band.

A musician’s musician, White had his own unique highly rhythmic lead and back up mandolin styles, with a fluid, delicate touch to his playing, incorporating some of the musical intensity that he picked up from being around the likes of brother Clarence and fiddlers Scotty Stoneman and Paul Warren. He adapted his style to suit the sound of the band with which he was playing.

He admitted to playing things that he heard from other instruments, “I always liked Ralph Mooney’s pedal steel when he played with Wynn Stewart. I liked dobro and listened a lot to Josh Graves.”

White had a rich, clear baritone voice. Others have described his singing as “a bit laid-back” and “warm and poignant.”

He was a devoted and in-demand teacher and taught at a host of mandolin camps and workshops, and gave many private lessons. With Diane Bouska he has co-authored a number of instruction books including Roland White’s Approach to Bluegrass Mandolin, The Essential Clarence White – Bluegrass Guitar Leads, Roland White’s Mandolin Christmas and Roland White’s Christmas Chord Book. CDs accompany three of these.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear – Roland White mandolin Christmas music

He can be heard on the soundtrack to the film, Dead Man Walking (1995), for which he, playing mandolin and adding a vocal part, and other members of The Nashville Bluegrass Band, backed Johnny Cash on the song, In Your Mind.

As well as the glittering array of bluegrass musicians who were his fellow band members, he shared the stage with other top names, including Sonny and Bobby Osborne; the Fairfield Four; Doc Watson; Tony Trischka; Darol Anger; Jesse McReynolds; The Del McCoury Band; Carl Jackson; Kathy Chiavola; and Missy Raines.

Tony Trischka Band with Roland White July 28, 2006

Planet Bluegrass, RockyGrass, Lyons, Colorado

Nevertheless, White yearned to play with his brothers most of all.

As well being a mentor to Lauderdale and Marty Stuart, White encouraged the likes of Casey Campbell, Tyler Andal, Luke Munday, Merideth Goins, Justin Hiltner, and Vickie Vaughn.

Stuart told Penny Parson in an interview about striking up a conversation with White (when with the Nashville Grass), “he was really kind to me, let me play his mandolin, took time to show me some things.” At the end of the following summer [Roland] “gave me his phone number” and [said], “If you ever want to come up, hang out, ride the bus, let me know. I’ll ask Lester, and you ask your mum and dad.” On his return to school which Stuart hated, he was one day dismissed … he called White, “He invited me up, Labor Day weekend, 1972. We went up to Delaware.”

(From Foggy Mountain Troubadour, The Life and Music of Curly Seckler, by Penny Parsons (University of Illinois Press, 2016). Used by permission.)

White was a humble, reserved man. There are many stories of his overwhelming generosity (to which I can personally attest), inviting Nashville visitors and newcomers to his house where his home-made salsa was a speciality.

Claire Lynch shared her memories of Roland’s kindness to her.

“Roland and Diane contacted me to ask if I could use some furniture for my new empty apartment. I thought I was destined to sleep on the floor, honestly. But they opened their storage unit to me and gave me a queen mattress, box springs and frame. I was SO GRATEFUL! And I felt so cared for.

Kindness and generosity marked Roland’s life.”

British banjo player Kenny Baker, of the Radio Cowboys and the New Essex Bluegrass Band), after attending the IBMA WoB convention at Owensboro in September 1994, visited Nashville. He reflects ….

“…..so many people are mourning the loss of Roland White. He was a friend to all he met – a sweet man.

The night before we flew back to England after three amazing weeks in the USA, during which I saw Roland a lot – he invited us to have dinner at his home. I and my friends, John Holder and Gaye Lockwood, along with Jim Rooney were there, and Ben Surratt and Missy Raines were too. It was a wonderful evening of lovely food and music.

Thank you, Diane and Roland, for your great kindness.”

Fiddler Blaine Sprouse was also close with White.

“Roland was a dear, dear friend. A gentle and generous man who made all of the people he met feel comfortable and like they belonged. He was one of my oldest and dearest friends and one of the first friends I met when I moved to Nashville in 1974. I feel honored and privileged to have played music with him and to call him friend. His impact on bluegrass music is immeasurable.

My heart goes out to his wife, Diane Bouska, and all of his family, friends, and fans.”

White was recognized for his considerable contributions to bluegrass music by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music (SPBGMA) which added his name to the Preservation Hall of Greats in 2010; and by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) with a Distinguished Achievement Award (2011), and induction into the Hall of Fame in 2017.

R.I.P. Roland White

Footnote:

Bob Black’s book, Mandolin Man: The Bluegrass Life of Roland White is scheduled for publication on June 7, 2022.

A Discography

Roland White / Roland White Band –

I Wasn’t Born To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Ridge Runner RRR0005, 1976) [reissued in 2010 on Tomkins Square TSQ 2400 with bonus track; She Is Her Own Special Baby]
Trying To Get To You (Sugar Hill SH-CD 3826, August 15, 1994)
Jelly On My Tofu (Copper Creek CCCD-0211, 2002) – Roland White Band
Straight-Ahead Bluegrass (Roland White Music RW 002, May 8, 2014) – Roland White Band
A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonels: Roland White And Friends (Mountain Home MH 17242, October 26, 2018)

Kentucky Colonels

Appalachian Swing! (World Pacific WP 1821, April 4, 1964) [reissued on United Artists [UK] UAS 29514 – Kentucky Colonels, featuring Roland and Clarence White, 1973; with bonus single tracks That’s What You Get For Loving Me and The Ballad Of Farmer Brown.][Kentucky Colonels (United Artists Records Bluegrass Best Collection [Japan] GXC 2013, 1978) contains the same recordings as UAS 29514.] [Liberty LN 10185 Appalachian Swing (contains 10 tracks only), 1982] [remastered and re-issued as Kentucky Colonels Featuring Roland & Clarence White, with Billy Ray Latham Roger Bush, Bobby Slone and Leroy Mack (BGO Records BGOCD357 (UK), 1997)] [also re-issued as Appalachian Swing! on EMI Music Special Markets / S&P Records SPR-717, 2005; with three recordings, Pickin’ Flat, A Fool Such As I and Black Ridge Ramble from Tut Taylor – Dobro Country.]
Livin’ In The Past – Legendary Live Recordings [1961-1965] Briar SBR-4202, 1975 (also on Takoma/Briar BT 7202, in Japan on Trio PA 8107) [re-issued as Livin’ In The Past – Legendary Live Recordings (Rural Rhythm RHY 1020, September 23, 2003)]
The Kentucky Colonels 1965-1967, Featuring Roland and Clarence White (Rounder 0070, 1976) [reissued in Spain on Guimbarda GS 11070 in 1979] [compiled from privately recorded live sessions]
The Kentucky Colonels With Scotty Stoneman: Live in LA, (Sierra Briar SBR 4206, 1965 :– 78 Scotty
The Kentucky Colonels 1966 (Shiloh SLP 4084, 1978)
Kentucky Colonels, Featuring Clarence White (Rounder 0098, 1980)
On Stage: Long Journey Home: Vanguard VCD-77004, November 1991) Hollywood 167003 Livin’ In The Past – Legendary Live Recordings, 1993 [re-issued on Sierra SXCD 6017 in 1996, see also Rural Rhythm RHY 1020, January 2003]
Billy Ray Lathum Presents The Kentucky Colonels – Live In Stereo (Double Barrel Records DBL/BRL 1001, 1999) [re-issued by (FGM) May 27, 2003] – this contains material from a Vancouver concert recorded January 15, 1965.

The New Kentucky Colonels

The White Brothers: Live in Sweden, 1973 (Rounder Records 0073, 1976) [re-issued as Live in Sweden, 1973 (Roland White Music, November 18, 2016)
Live in Holland, 1973 (Roland White Music CD 1, 2013)

Lester Flatt / Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman

Flatt Out (Columbia CS-1006, April 1970)
The One And Only Lester Flatt (Nugget NRLP-104, 1970 [Reissued on Power Pak PO-293 Rollin‘ in 1976 and on Hollywood HCD-291 Rollin’ At His Best, King 0508-2 in 2003]
Flatt On Victor (RCA Victor LSP-4495, April 1971)
Lester ‘N’ Mac (RCA Victor LSP-4547, June 1971) w. Mac Wiseman
Kentucky Ridgerunner (RCA Victor LSP-4633 January 1972)
On The South Bound (RCA Victor LSP-4688, June 1972) w. Mac Wiseman
Foggy Mountain Breakdown (RCA Victor LSP-4789, October 1972)
Lester Flatt – Country Boy Featuring Feudin’ Banjos (RCA Victor RCA APL1-0131, 1973)
Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman – Over the Hills to the Poorhouse (RCA RCA APL1-0309, 1973) w. Mac Wiseman
Lester Flatt (RCA Country Legends series / BMG Heritage BG2 65142, 2003) (sampler)
Flatt On Victor Plus More (Bear Family Records (Germany) BCD 15975 FI, 2015) [6-CD set]

Country Gazette

Country Gazette Live (Antilles AN-7014, 1975) – recorded at McCabe’s Guitar Shop
Out To Lunch (Flying Fish FF-027, November 25, 1976)
What A Way To Make A Living (Ridge Runner RRR-0008, June 1977)
All This, And Money, Too! (Ridge Runner RRR-0017, January 1979)
American And Clean (Flying Fish FF-253, January 6, 1981)
America’s Bluegrass Band Flying Fish FF-295, December 1, 1982)
Recorded Live On The Road (no label CGT 1, 1984); this includes material from the band’s June 1977 tour of Japan.
Bluegrass Tonight! (Flying Fish FF-383, September 1986) – Alan Munde/Roland White and Country Gazette
Strictly Instrumental (Flying Fish FF-446, 1987) – Alan Munde/Roland White and Country Gazette
Hello, Operator. . . . This Is Country Gazette (Flying Fish FFCD-70112, April 3, 1991) (sampler)

Alan Munde

Alan Munde’s Banjo Sandwich (Ridge Runner RRR 0001, 1975)
The Banjo Kid Picks Again (Ridge Runner RRR0022, 1980)
Festival Favorites, Volume I (Ridge Runner RRR-0026, 1980)
Festival Favorites, Volume II (Ridge Runner RRR0027, 1980
Festival Favorites: Nashville Sessions (Ridge Runner RRR0031, 1982)
Festival Favorites: Southwest Sessions (Ridge Runner RRR-0032, 1983)

The Nashville Bluegrass Band

The Boys Are Back in Town (Sugar Hill SH-CD-3778, April 5, 1990)
Home Of the Blues (Sugar Hill SH-CD-3793 (live with Fairfield Four), October 22, 1991)
Waitin’ For The Hard Times To Go (Sugar Hill SH-CD-380, May 1, 1993)
Unleashed (Sugar Hill SH-CD-3843, September 19, 1995)
American Beauty (Sugar Hill SH-CD-3882, July 21, 1998)

Others

1964: Tut Taylor – Tut Taylor, Roland & Clarence White: Dobro Country (World Pacific 1829)
1968: Kenny Baker – Portrait Of A Bluegrass Fiddler (County 719)
1969: Joe Greene – Joe Greene’s Fiddle Album (County 722)
1976: Dave Ferguson and his Friends – Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Other Fiddle Tunes (Ridge Runner RRR0003)
1976: Dan Huckabee – Why Is This Man Smiling (Ridge Runner RRR0004)
1977: Charlie Hardiman – On The Well-Beaten Path To Bluegrass (Hillside)
1977: Butch Robins – Forty Years Late (Rounder 0086)
1977: Buck White and the Down Home Folks – That Down Home Feeling (Ridge Runner RRR0006)
1977: Sam (Bush) And Alan (Munde) – Together Again For The First Time (Ridge Runner RRR0007)
1978: Bobby Hicks – Texas Crapshooter (County 772)
1979: Paul Warren with Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass – America’s Greatest Breakdown Fiddle Player (CMH Records CMH-6237)
1980: Joe Carr – Otter Nonsense (Ridge Runner RRR-0024)
1981: Blaine Sprouse – Summertime (Rounder 0155)
1983: Lost City Mad Dogs – The Lost City Mad Dogs (Music Mountain Records [Japan] MMR-002)
1983: The Dreadful Snakes – Snakes Alive! (Rounder 0177)
1988: Glen Duncan – Sweetwater (Turquoise TR -5061)
1988: David Grier – Freewheeling (Rounder 0250)
1990: Doc Watson – On Praying Ground (Sugar Hill SH-3779)
1991: Bill Monroe – Bluegrass 1959-1969 (Bear Family Records (Germany) BCD 15529 DH) [4-CD set]
1992: Stuart Duncan – Stuart Duncan (Rounder CD 0263)
1992: Marty Stuart – Let There Be Country (ColumbiaCK 40829)
1994: Gene Wooten – Sings & Plays Dobro (Pinecastle 1024)
1994: Bill Monroe – The Music of Bill Monroe (From 1936 to 1994) (MCAD 4-11048) [4-CD set]
1995: Clint Black – Looking for Christmas (RCA 07863-66593-2)
1995: Joe Carr and Alan Munde – Windy Days and Dusty Skies (Flying Fish FF 70644)
1996: Leroy Mack – Leroy Mack & Friends (Rebel REB-CD-1729)
1996: Bernadette Peters – I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Angel 0777 7 54699 2 9)
1997: Valerie Smith – Patchwork Heart (Rebel REB CD-0601)
1999: Kazuhiro Inaba – Dixie Dream (Copper Creek CCCD 0166)
2000: Valerie Smith – Turtle Wings (Rebel REB-CD-0602)
2002: Ricky Skaggs and Friends – Sing The Songs Of Bill Monroe (Lyric Street 2061-65030-2)
2004: Clint Black – Christmas with You (Equity Music Group EMG-3004)
2007: Ry Cooder – My Name Is Buddy (Nonesuch 7559-79961-2)
2010: Skip Battin – Topanga Skyline (Sierra SXCD 6031)
2014: Becky Buller – ‘Tween Earth And Sky (Dark Shadow Recordings)
2018: Jim Lauderdale and Roland White – Jim Lauderdale and Roland White (Yep Roc! CDYEP 2597)
1996: Various Artists – True Life Blues – The Songs Of Bill Monroe (Sugar Hill Records SHCD-2209)

Sonny Osborne, Alan Munde to American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame

The American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City has announced the 2022 inductees into their Banjo Hall of Fame. The Museum has been honoring banjoists thusly since 1998, when they were strictly focused on four string (tenor and plectrum) banjo. Opening up to five stringers in 2014, the Hall of Fame has been busy naming heroes of bluegrass banjo as well ever since.

Two icons of the genre are included in the 2022 class, Sonny Osborne, who passed away last October after a lengthy and noteworthy career, and Alan Munde, who has combined a successful touring and recording career with an equally memorable one as an educator.

Also to be inducted this year are Don Vappie for Four String Performance, The Banjo Kings in the Historical category, and Randy Morris for Promotion.

All five will be feted as part of the Museum’s Banjo Fest over the September 22-24 weekend, in an official induction ceremony. Tickets to the Hall of Fame Celebration will be available soon.

The Museum provided these thumbnail biographies of this year’s Hall of Fame class:

SONNY OSBORNE – Five-String Performance – A second generation bluegrass banjo pioneer, Osborne followed his mentor, Earl Scuggs’ footsteps, performing and recording with Bill Monroes Blue Grass Boys at the age of 14. Best known for his work with his brother, Bobby, as The Osborne Brothers, Sonny was instrumental in bridging the gap between bluegrass and country music as a result of their Grand Ole Opry appearances, beginning in 1964. From the anthem Rocky Top, Osborne continued to advocate high standards in bluegrass out of respect for the pioneers of the genre who struggled with little reward to create an art form and industry with worldwide impact. (Sadly, Sonny Osborne passed away on October 24, 2021.)

DON VAPPIE – Four-String Performance – In the world of tenor banjo, few musical voices are as unique as Don Vappie. Steeped in tenor banjo tradition, Vappie has honed a very personal approach to the instrument into an instantly recognizable style all his own. Whether the rhythmic pulse of a classic jazz band such as the Creole Jazz Serenaders or seemingly effortlessly breezing through a suite of Harry Reser compositions in front of a symphony orchestra, Vappie’s one-of-a-kind sound and style present the tenor banjo with musicality and distinction, a fact recognized by his being a 2021 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.

THE BANJO KINGS – Historical – Formed by Dick Roberts (tenor banjo) and Red Roundtree (plectrum banjo) in the 1950s, The Banjo Kings are arguably one of the most important and well-known banjo acts to surface during the nostalgia boom associated with post-WWII America. Created as a studio group to fill the public’s insatiable appetite for Americana, Roberts’ soaring tenor was the perfect counterpart to Roundtree’s driving rhythm. Their light and bouncy approach to everything from ragtime to Dixieland to folk to standards was captured by California’s Good Time Jazz label and ultimately brought four-string banjo at its best to a world-wide audience.

RANDY MORRIS – Promotion – Born and raised in Los Angeles, multi-instrumentalist Randy Morris has been a professional musician with a sincere affection for the banjo since his teens. After playing traditional jazz in the San Fernando Valley, Morris joined the Walt Disney Company in the early 1970s where his banjo identity shown through as part of The Banjo Kings, the Hoop De Doo Revue and The Riverboat Rascals aboard the Empress Lilly riverboat in Lake Buena Vista. Additionally, he led the band at Rosie O’Grady’s in Orlando while still finding time to find, archive, and preserve the recordings of hundreds of iconic banjo greats from the past.

ALAN MUNDE – Instruction & Education – Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Munde frequently played amateur gigs around the state prior to joining legendary bluegrass musician Jimmy Martin in 1969. After working with Byron Berline in the Flying Burrito Brothers, in 1972 Munde joined the Country Gazette and remained a central figure in the groundbreaking band for the next twenty years. Musical collaborations – including a legendary recording with Sam Bush entitled Together Again for the First Time led to Munde being asked to serve on the board of the International Bluegrass Music Association. In addition to teaching bluegrass and country music at the South Plains College, Munde was a regular contributor to FRETS magazine and continues to perform with his current band, Alan Munde Gazette.

Congratulations one and all!

You can see a complete list of the Banjo Hall of Fame members on the museum web site.

2021 Steve Martin Banjo Prize winners

Steve Martin, Don Vappie, and Alan Munde – Vappie photo by Brad Edelman; Munde photo by Tom Dunning

Today the winners of the 2021 Steve Martin Banjo Prize have been announced by Martin, and the Board of Directors of the Prize. This is the 2nd annual selection for the renamed award, now administered by The FreshGrass Foundation and Compass Records, with a title chosen to reflect its focus away from bluegrass banjo exclusively, as it had originally been configured, to a more general prize for high artistic achievement in the wider banjo community.

This year’s recipients are Alan Munde, long time 3-finger bluegrass banjo player and educator, and Don Vappie, noted New Orleans jazz player on tenor banjo. Each will receive an unrestricted cash award of $25,000.

This prize was originally conceived and implemented by Steve Martin as The Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music, with the first awarded to Noam Pikelny. At that time a cash grant of $50,00 went to a single artist, along with a piece of original sculpture designed for the purpose. Martin funded the prize with own resources for ten years, and has since turned it over to The Freshgrass Foundation and Compass Records who will continue it with a broader focus.

During his oversight, the prize went to Pikelny, Sammy Shelor, Mark Johnson, Jens Kruger, Eddie Adcock, Danny Barnes, Rhiannon Giddens, Scott Vestal, Kristin Scott Benson, and Victor Furtado. In 2020, the first year under FreshGrass, the award was split among five players in a variety of styles: Matthew Davis, Buddy Watcher, Gerry O’Connor, Jake Blount, and BB Bowness.

Steve says that he feels honored that they have chosen to keep his name on the award.

“I am so proud to have my name on the new, expanded Banjo Prize, with its wider scope and broader considerations. The world of the banjo is expanding and our goal is to bring it under one roof.”

A young Alan Munde first emerged on the nation al bluegrass scene playing with Jimmy Martin in 1969 at the age of 23. He had already made the musical acquaintance of future bluegrass greats Byron Berline and Sam Bush, and had worked with Bush in Kentucky in a short-lived group called Poor Richard’s Almanac. Moving to California in 1972 to join the Flying Burrito Brothers, Alan helped form Country Gazette with Berline when the Burritos band dissolved. He remained with the Gazette for the duration of the band’s existence, and then joined the faculty of South Plains College in Texas where he taught banjo until he retired. No one who learned banjo from the 1970s onward has failed to be influenced by Alan’s creativity and musicianship, whether on Earl Scruggs style material, Munde’s own instrumentals, or on jazz-oriented approaches to 3-finger banjo.

Don Vappie is known as a purveyor and preservationist of New Orleans music, which he describes as Creole jazz. Known as both a guitarist and a banjoist, he has been featured on his own seven solo recordings, plus in both television and film. Like Munde, Don’s career is also focused on education, and he serves on the faculty of Loyola University, and offers workshops and concerts at high school and middle schools in the region as part of his passion for teaching young people about the music and culture of his home town. He also teaches at the Jamison Heritage School of Music in New Orleans, where he is noted for both his virtuosity and his authority on the subject of Creole jazz.

This afternoon at 6:30 p.m. (EDT), Deering Banjos will host a special video presentation on YouTube featuring Martin, along with this year’s recipients of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. It will also be available on the Facebook pages of Prize sponsors and friends The FreshGrass Festival, Compass Records, No Depression, Folk Alley, and The International Bluegrass Music Association. The video will include both performances and interviews with Alan Munde and Don Vappie, plus thoughts on both men’s contributions from Sam Bush and Wynton Marsalis.

Following the Deering Live presentation, the video will remain active for after the fact viewing on YouTube.

Many congratulations to Alan Munde and Don Vappie!

Prize winners each year are chosen by the Board of Directors of the Steve Martin Prize:

Steve Martin (Chairman Emeritus)
Alison Brown (Co-Chair)
Béla Fleck
Noam Pikelny
Anne Stringfield
Tony Trischka
Pete Wernick
Johnny Baier
Kristin Scott Benson
Roger Brown
Jamie Deering
Dom Flemons
Paul Schiminger
Chris Wadsworth
Garry West (Co-Chair)

Ozark Music Camp launching in Branson this fall

The Chapmans, longstanding family of bluegrass performers, and proprietors of The Acoustic Shoppe in Springfield, MO, have announced the debut in October of their first ever Ozark Music Camp.

The three day weekend workshop will be held at the beautiful Still Waters Resort on Table Rock Lake in Branson, just a short drive from Silver Dollar City. Classes will be held for banjo, guitar, and mandolin from October 7-10, with instructors chosen from among the most knowledgeable and esteemed in bluegrass music. Alan Munde and Kristin Scott Benson will be on site to teach banjo, Ron Block for guitar, and Danny Roberts for mandolin. Each is at the top of their field, with many years of performance and instructional experience at hand – Munde with Country Gazette and on the faculty of South Plains College, Block with Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Roberts and Benson with The Grascals.

The faculty will be assisted by The Chapmans in their seminars, with John Chapman leading guitar, Jeremey Chapman the mandolin, and Bill Chapman the banjo.

A chief benefit for those whose love of bluegrass music is not shared by all family members is the close proximity of Silver Dollar City, which can provide a suitable diversion while you are studying with the masters at camp.

Jeremy and John put this video together to explain what you can expect at the first Ozark Music Camp.

Full details, including registration fees, instructional schedule, and discounts for early signups, can be found online.

Bright Munde – Alan Munde and Billy Bright

Alan Munde is a well-loved name in the banjo-verse, full stop. He is best known for his masterful melodic and traditional Scruggs style banjo playing, and with over 40 years in teaching and performing he has made a huge influence on players all over the globe. Munde, who is an Oklahoma native, began his bluegrass banjo career while attending the University of Oklahoma. He started going along to fiddle contests and festivals with renowned fiddler and then bandmate, Byron Berline, where he learned the tricks of the trade and how this style of music weaves and unites people from all over the country and the world.

In 1969, Alan was hired by bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin to join the Sunny Mountain Boys, and later moved to Nashville where he founded the acclaimed band, Country Gazette, with whom he went on to record 30 albums. Munde went on to join the faculty at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas in 1986, teaching bluegrass banjo and, since then, he has written a large number of resources for Mel Bay publications, some of these include Getting Into Bluegrass Banjo, Arranging Tunes for Solo Banjo, and Alan Munde Solo Banjo. Now that he is retired from teaching, Munde continues to perform, teach, and record regularly, all while continuing to run and maintain his Banjo College where he sells his instructional books, DVDs, solo albums, and downloadable lessons.

On Bright Munde Alan is joined by Texas based mandolinist Billy Bright, from the Grammy-nominated Austin, Texas band Wood and Wire, also known for his work with Tony Rice and Peter Rowan. He was raised in El Paso, Texas, where he says he swore youthful allegiance to punk rock, and would float across the southern US, carried by his then strong interests in karate, skateboarding, and particularly punk rock. Clearly he accidentally stumbled into Munde’s playing with both being in Texas, and took up the mandolin in his college years. We’re thankful that he did!

Over the years the pair has collaborated in the bands Two High String Band and Hot Texas Burrito, but have more recently come together to make a record in this duo lineup. Released back in 2014, Bright Munde still stands to be a very powerful first duo album release for Munde and Bright. With banjo and mandolin being arguably two of the happiest instruments known to man, I guarantee that you will have a smile on your face while listening through the entirety of this album. With fusions of jazz, blues, folk ballad waltzes, and straight ahead bluegrass instrumentals, Munde and Bright seamlessly combine all of these very differing styles to flow into the spectrum of their ten original instrumentals, letting them influence their two traditional tunes, and more uniquely, their version of Bill Monroe’s Methodist Preacher. They don’t miss a beat while taking on such a challenge, and leave you creatively inspired that such a joyous sound can come from two unlikely matched instruments.

The first track, Geezer Ride, whisks us off on a modal passage, led by strong mandolin and swiftly backed up by Munde’s steady banjo. Geezer is a slang word that stems from the 19th century, and more recently has adapted itself to mean “a man” or even “an old man.” Chromatic changes and melodic phrases are thrown together hand in hand with bluesy string bends on banjo and mandolin to make this track a great opener, and clearly sets the scene for the rest of the album. G is an appropriately named banjo-led bop with twisty changes and runs that almost lend themselves to excerpts of a John Coltrane or Miles Davis solo. I love how this track flows along, making it impossible to not tap your foot.

Track 3, Sad Eyes is exactly what it says. This one reminds me of a certain Disney cartoon where a kitten gets lost in the big city and has to follow many twists and turns to find its way back home. It’s filled with chord changes that make you feel a deeper sense of emotion. Old Yellow Rocking Chair is another original of theirs that almost sounds old, like the Old Spinning Wheel. Played with great authority like they have been playing it all of their lives, the solo swapping on this track and the conversational sharing of the melody at the end of the track is particularly sweet and happy sounding.

Track 5 brings us to a swingy number called Like Sonny, not to be confused with the John Coltrane track, but equally as tasteful and most likely written with legendary banjo player Sonny Osborne in mind. The descending and ascending melody line reminds me of Scruggs’ well-loved Foggy Mountain Special. The banjo backup particularly stands out to me on this track, with a consistent yet decorative banjo line that fits so nicely with the mandolin.

Tumblin‘ picks us up and sets us right in the middle of Paris, with this french sounding waltz led by Bright’s twinkly mandolin. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album, arranged to highlight the chordal melodies from Mandolin and Banjo. Past the halfway mark through the album, track 7 lands us on the Bill Monroe tune, Methodist Preacher. Their great version of this familiar tune starts off at a walking tempo, and then kicks up a gear in the intro to place us into a fiery fiddle jam speed. Jaybird is a sweet traditional tune that is not to be confused with other similarly named tunes, Marching Jaybird, Jaybird in a High Oak Tree, and Jaybird Died of the Whooping Cough. Munde and Bright play this tune with such energy that their version will be referenced for many years to come.

Hot Dog Dreams, has strong tastes of jazz and newgrass, particularly in the solo sections where we hear the technical explorations of both Munde and Bright as they swap solos with ease. Munde and Bright have a gift of making these tracks sound relatable to hardcore bluegrass fans, yet not being totally removed from the colorful chord changes of jazz and more modern newgrass. Everybody Say Wow showcases their ability to tear it up on a straight ahead bluegrass instrumental filled with alternative chord changes that are a big defining part of Munde’s beloved tune writing. Effortlessly we drift into the peaceful original tune penned Plurabelle, with Bright’s mandolin sweetly leading the flowing melody line and being so nicely backed up by Munde’s distinctive banjo backup. This track clearly has elements of early Baroque music, all the while still staying true to the distinctive sounds and techniques of traditional bluegrass mandolin and banjo.

The welcomed twisty modal melody of Red Fox in the Bush is a joy to the ear and really highlights the teamwork of Munde and Bright, as Munde provides solid backup to Bright’s toneful mandolin performance on this track. After making it this far in the album you might wonder how this duo could possibly end an album filled with so many notes, technical arrangements, and energetic performances. They chose the perfect closing to tis 13 track album, with a great version of the traditional tune, Who Killed The Shanghai Rooster? This lesser played tune will eventually find itself back in the jam circle, most likely through the inspiration of this well executed performance from Munde and Bright. Their own version of this track is filled with traditional licks and newgrass influenced passages, which ends this album on a note of unity between both styles.

So after saying all that, if you are a fan of instrumental music, specifically played by two of the most unlikely paired instruments in the acoustic world, then you need to have this album in your collection. Not only will it open your eyes to the possibility and realms that mandolin and banjo can tread on, but the creativity of this duo will most likely inspire you to pick up your instrument and play along. And that’s really what it’s all about.

You can order Bright Munde here, as well as finding out more about Bright and Munde’s other work.

Bearded Banjo Santas live on Facebook December 23

Here’s a Christmas treat for banjo lovers everywhere. Three of your favorite pickers will be doing a livestream concert tomorrow night (12/23) on Facebook, billed as the Bearded Banjo Santas Holiday Hang with Alan Munde, Béla Fleck, and Tony Trischka. It will be broadcast via Facebook Live starting at 7:00 p.m. (EST) Wednesday evening.

The show was the brainchild of Tony Trischka, who thought it would be a fun experience. So he called on his fellow bearded banjo buds and they readily agreed. Each will be connected remotely from their home, with a program of solo banjo music prepared.

Tony tells us that it’s not a completely Christmas program, though he does has a Christmas medley prepared, and presumes that Alan and Béla have something similar as well. It is expected to be a loose, free form exchange of tunes and conversation. They aren’t planning to take requests, but will likely respond to comments from viewers.

To watch, simply visit either of the three Bearded Santas’ Facebook pages to see the livestream. There is no fee to join in the fun, but donations will be accepted during the show for Action Against Hunger USA.

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