Dale Perry Archives - Bluegrass Today

Congratulations Dale and Kelle!

This past Saturday, October 14, veteran bluegrass musician Dale Perry and Kelle LaShelle Daggett were married in Dunlap, TN.

The wedding was held in the Dunlap Coke Ovens park north of Chattanooga, and attended by their family and friends, including lots of Dale’s bluegrass friends. It was an informal affair with plenty of pickin’ throughout the day.

Kelle and Dale met at a bluegrass show at Nashville’s Station Inn, where he later proposed to her in January of this year. Perry must have felt pretty confident of a years, as he also had a surprise engagement party set up for that night!

Dale has a long history in bluegrass, playing both banjo and bass in a number of different groups. He was an early five stringer with Lonesome River Band and has twice worked with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. These days he plays banjo with David Parmley & Cardinal Tradition. Dale had worked previously with David, and had been a member of The Bluegrass Cardinals.

Kelle is a great lover of bluegrass music and sang with bands as a younger woman. She now serves as Sales Coordinator at Benefit Enrollment Services in Nashville.

The newlyweds will make their home outside of Nashville in Castalian Springs on a houseboat located in a private lake cove, and on their customized touring bus.

Congratulations Dale and Kelle!

Shortnin’ Bread from Dale Perry

Dale Perry has been working in bluegrass since the late 1980s when he toured with Lonesome River Band on banjo. Over the next 30 years he has played bass with Doyle Lawson and Dale Ann Bradley, then banjo with Doyle and David Parmley, and guest spots in the studio with a number of popular bluegrass acts. Since David Parmley returned to performing last year, Dale has been his banjo player.

He’s also engineered, produced, and/or mixed projects for The Churchmen, The Daughters of Bluegrass, Pine Mountain Railroad, Nothin’ Fancy, The Bluegrass Brothers and many others. But until this year, he’s never had a recording of his own, under his name.

That will shortly be corrected, when his independently produced album, Livin’ The Dream, is released on April 19.

Bluegrass radio gets a taste in advance of the street date with a single, released today via Airplay Direct. It’s Perry’s version of the instrumental classic, Shortnin’ Bread, made famous by Earl Scruggs when he was with Lester Flatt. Dale largely follows Earl’s lead on this one, assisted by David Parmley on guitar, Steve Day on fiddle, and Tim Graves on reso-guitar. Dale also plays bass and chops the mandolin.

Here’s a taste of the track…

Also included on Livin’ The Dream are banjo classics like Red River Valley, Careless Love, Grandfather’s Clock, Home Sweet Home, and Cripple Creek. It will be available later this month at all the David Parmley & Cardinal Tradition shows.

Wilson Banjo picks up Dale Perry

The bluegrass festival season is just getting underway in earnest for 2016, and already the big news is the return of David Parmley to the circuit with his stellar band, Cardinal Tradition. Standing on stage with David on the five is Dale Perry, as he had done for many years before Parmley pulled away from touring a few years ago.

Dale has a long history in bluegrass music including a stint with the original Bluegrass Cardinals, some time with the early Lonesome River Band, and several years with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. His hard-driving banjo playing is well-regarded throughout bluegrass music, as are his skills as a bass singer and a studio engineer.

And now Wilson Banjo in South Carolina has brought Perry on as an endorser. Dale is playing one of Steve Wilson’s Guardian models and says that it suits him just fine.

“The most attention grabbing feature of the Wilson custom banjo was the TONE. Everyone searches for the ‘pre-war’ banjo tone and the Wilson banjo delivers it perfectly! The craftsmanship and style was an immediate fit for me. I love the simplicity of it. The greatest surprise was how lightweight the banjo is and it makes playing shows so much easier with the Wilson than all the heavier models I have played in the past. The banjo provides me with the TOTAL package that I have searched for. I am proud to attest to the beautiful, yet simple features, lightweight feeling and most of all, that ‘pre-war’ tone of the Wilson custom banjo!”

The banjo is a maple model with gold plated parts and a unique inlay pattern of Steve’s design.

Steve Wilson is a life-long grasser and instrument builder who honed his craft as a luthier in the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville. Now retired and living in South Carolina, Steve has dedicated his time to bluegrass, both building these custom banjos, and playing banjo with his band, also called Wilson Banjo Co.

Here’s Dale blowing through Big Country at Bean Blossom on his new Wilson Guardian with David and the boys.

You can find more information about Wilson Banjo, and contact Steve, online.

More changes in Quicksilver

Doyle Lawson has made another set of changes to the Quicksilver lineup. Dale Perry will come on board to play banjo and sing bass, and Jason Leek will play bass and sing tenor. The new band will take the stage within the next two weeks.

Perry is a former member of Quicksilver, who did time in the band on both bass and banjo. He had been playing bass with Grasstowne, and before that was on banjo with David Parmley.

Leek has been playing bass with Barry Scott & Second Wind.

Departing banjo player Joey Cox said that Doyle had found no fault with his picking, but that he felt like he needed to make some changes to refine the sound of the band’s vocal trio and quartet.

For his part, Cox intends to return to college and is looking for a band with a more part time/weekend schedule while he is in school. He can be reached via Facebook.

So… it looks like Grasstowne and Barry Scott are looking for some new members too. It’s that time of year.

Dale Perry to Grasstowne

Grasstowne had no sooner arrived home from their Yukon adventures than they announced the hiring of heralded multi-instrumentalist Dale Perry on bass and bass vocals.

Dale has had quite a career in bluegrass, working with some of the most prestigious acts in the business. He has done time with Lonesome River Band, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, David Parmley & Continental Divide, and just recently, with Pine Mountain Railroad. During that time he has been a banjo player and a bass player, and even played both at different times with Doyle!

Phil Leadbetter was happy to share the news of Dale’s move to Grasstowne.

“We are very excited to have him. He is one of the true veterans of this music.”

Phil mentioned that even though Dale will be touring with them from this point forward, he will not appear on the band’s new album, expected later this year. That will feature Travis Greer on bass, who had been with them for the past few years and recorded the new project with Grasstowne.

Look for a Grasstowne show near you by checking their tour schedule online.

Dale Perry joins Pine Mountain Railroad

Cody Shuler recently announced that effect October 18, 2008, Dale Perry has joined Pine Mountain Railroad. Dale will be playing the 5 and singing harmony vocals.

Dale’s bass singin as been a distinguishing marks of the bands he’s performed with in the past, including the Lonesome River Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmely & Continental Divide.

Dale has periodically taken time off the road between bands to run his Lakeside Recording Studio, even recording the last Pine Mountain Railroad CD. I asked Cody Shuler to share with us the story of how Dale came to join the band.

I am glad to have Dale Perry be a part of this band. His vocal work along with his great banjo playing brings some great new sounds from this band. We have been working on some great quartets that feature some of his great bass singing. Dale recorded our latest cd “Pickin’ Praisin’ & Singin’ at his Lakeside Studio in Moneta, VA. He will also be recording a cd we are currently working on as well. Dale has played with some great groups through the years, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmley. I am very excited to have him join CS & PMR.

Be sure to keep an eye on PMR’s tour schedule and go hear them with Dale Perry in the band.

Dale Perry latest Huber endorser

Continental Divide banjo picker Dale Perry is the most recent respected 5 string pro to sign on as a Huber Banjos endorser. He joins such top banjo players as Sammy Shelor, Jim Mills, Ron Block, Cia Cherryholmes, Jason Burleson and Greg Cahill on the Huber artist roster.

Dale selected a Huber Kalamazoo model, and has been using it on stage this past few weeks. His initial reactions to the new axe have been quite positive.

“This instrument is incredible!! It went from Steve Huber’s hands, into the case, back out of the case and in my hands playing on stage is the span of about 20 minutes. No set up, no tinkering‚Ä¶ I just hooked up the strap and blasted off.

This banjo and sounds as much like a pre-war Mastertone as anything I have ever played.”

Find out more about the various Huber models on their web site, or see where to catch Dale and his new banjo on the David Parmley & Continental Divide schedule page.

New CD from Continental Divide

Church House Hymns, from David Parmley & Continental Divide, is due for a March 25 release on their private label, DP&CD Records. It is a collection of familiar Gospel songs, including ones that have been most requested by fans over the years.

Their intention was to select timeless hymns that many bluegrass fans may have grown up singing in church. Included are such classics as Farther Along, Are You Washed In The Blood (of the Lamb), I’m In The Gloryland Way, Will You Meet Me Over Yonder and Over In the Gloryland.

They have also chosen to feature a re-recording of There Is A Fountain, the groundbreaking a capella song which The Bluegrass Cardinals sang on their first record back in 1975. Ron Stewart guests on fiddle for several tracks on Church House Hymns, and regular banjo picker Dale Perry adds Scruggs-style finger picked guitar as well.

Mandolinist and tenor singer Randy Graham passed along some background on the striking cover shot.

“It’s a church we played in Norway a couple of years back. You can’t see it in the shot, but about 100 yards from the front door, the water in the fjord is 1,200 feet deep, so clear you can see as far as light will penetrate.”

Randy also shared a touching personal reminiscence of fellow former Bluegrass Cardinal, Steve Stephenson.

“As you may recall, Steve added his bass vocal on the original cut of There Is A Fountain. We have known him since the late 60’s. David and I called Steve’s wife, Judy, from the studio Sunday evening, to check up on Steve’s ongoing battle with cancer and arrange a visit with him before festival season got into full swing. Steve was unable to talk on the phone, having received a chemo treatment during the week and was dealing with flu-like symptoms. We passed our bests wishes to Steve via Judy.

Long story short, Steve passed away early the following morning, just hours after we finished up There Is A Fountain. He was a dear friend… we were/are deeply saddened at his passing.”

Church House Hymns will be available from the band at any of their live shows, and from their official web site as soon as it is released on March 25.