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Larry McPeak passes

Larry McPeake, bass player and singer with The McPeak Brothers, died this morning in Bristol, VA. He had spent the past week hospitalized and his health had been rapidly declining.

He was part of the historic trio with his brothers Dewey and Mike, hailing from Wytheville, VA. Their tight family harmony, and Larry’s clever songwriting, brought them popularity in the 1970s, though they were well known in southwest Virginia before and after their brief time on RCA.

They had continued performing together sporadically until Larry’s health prevented them doing so. In recent years Larry had experienced both liver and kidney problems, and was on oxygen 24/7.

His friend Tim White, host of Song Of The Mountains on PBS, says he had a chance to speak with Larry by phone yesterday, and says he found him tired, and ready to let go.

“It is hard to part with family and friends, but seeing Larry suffer over the past three years prepared all of us close to him for this day. We were blessed to have had Larry for an extra 14 years after his successful liver transplant. I am saddened for his family, and his bluegrass family as well.

But I am happy for Larry. His suffering is over. The world is getting mighty empty.”

I recall seeing The McPeak Brothers for the first time in the mid-’80s, when Rickie and Ronnie Simpkins were in their band. Theirs was a fun, homey show filled with great singing and strong picking. Dewey played banjo, Mike guitar, with Larry on bass.

Only a few of their many albums remain available, with two offered as digital downloads. If you are not familiar with the music of The McPeaks, you owe it to yourself to have a good listen.

R.I.P., Larry McPeak.

Adam McPeak to Kindred Records

Kindred Records has announced the signing of Adam McPeak & Mountain Thunder to the label.

The Virginia band is led by 17 year old mandolinist McPeak, the son of Mike McPeake of the legendary McPeak Brothers, who plays guitar and sings with Mountain Thunder. They have a new album, The Last Dirt Road, which Kindred plans to release later this year.

Other members of Adam’s band include Nikki Wright on fiddle, Dave Chrisley on bass, and Steve Chrisly on banjo. Mike and Nikki handle the lead vocals.

The McPeak name is magic in southwestern Virginia, and among bluegrass lovers everywhere, for the music made by four brothers from Wytheville starting in the mid-1960s. By the ’70s they were recording, with a number of songs that resonated with fans of country and bluegrass, partly through appearances on the Mel and Susan television show, with Mel Tillis and Susan Anton in 1978.

Adam’s dad Mike was the youngest of the brothers, and was the lead vocalist during their period of greatest popularity. His older brothers were Udell, Dewey, and Larry, with Udell leaving before the band started recording actively.

The new Adam McPeak & Mountain Thunder album will include 10 tracks, five of them written by Adam’s uncle, Larry McPeak. Audio samples will be available soon online.

A good night out for Larry McPeak

As we in the United States pause today to remember those who have served in the armed forces, especially those lost in the line of duty, it would be well to also recall our bluegrass heroes. Though not giving all in the same sense, the pioneers and practitioners of bluegrass music make sacrifices that not many of us would consider, to run the road bringing us the music we love so dearly.

So, all together now… hip hip hooray!

One such hero we can recall today is Larry McPeak, a founding member of The McPeake Brothers of southwest Virginia. He started the group with older brother Udell, and younger brother Dewey in 1963. Udell had been a member of The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in the 1950s, and also worked a while with Red Smiley.

The band was quite popular in the ’60s and ’70s, recording for Rebel, County and Major, with one LP on RCA. Udell passed away in 2009, and Larry health has been poor for the past year.

Tim White, host of the PBS program Song Of The Mountains, sent along this photo and story about Larry getting a night out recently to hear some bluegrass.

“Larry McPeak, who is an original founding member of the VW Boys, attended a VW Boys concert on May 17, 2014 at Wytheville Community College in Wytheville, VA. Larry is living at a local nursing home while recovering from several heath issues. He is on oxygen 24 hours a day now and has dialysis treatments 3 days a week. He is also undergoing treatments for skin cancer.

To the great pleasure of current VW Boys members Dave Vaught, Tim White, and Fat Albert Blackburn, Mr. Larry was able to attend thanks to Debbie Larson and Larry’s brother, Dewey McPeak, escorting him to the show.

The VW Boys performed that night with the old time band the Wolfe Brothers. Larry had not been away from the nursing home since October of 2013 and he said this was a ‘real treat.’ Larry was able to stay for an hour and a half through the VW Boys concert and a little into the Wolfe Brothers performance before he became tired and had to go back to his room at the nursing home.

The capacity crowd at the venue were touched and inspired by Larry’s presence. They gave him a round of applause when brother Dewey brought him into the theatre in his wheelchair.

Please keep Larry in your thoughts and prayers. Everyone who knows Larry loves him.”

If you have an aged or ailing member of the bluegrass family in your community, pick up the phone today and give them a ring. And every time you enjoy your favorite music, in person or via recordings, stop and give thanks for the people who created, preserved and expanded it for us to enjoy.

Larry McPeak hospitalized

We heard this morning from our friend Tim White, host of the PBS television series Song Of The Mountains, with some sad news about an iconic bluegrass performer from southwestern Virginia.

“Larry McPeak of the legendary McPeak Brothers and original member of the VW Boys needs your thoughts and prayers. In the past couple of weeks his health issues have gotten worse.

Larry has been on dialysis three days a week for the past couple of years as well as having to be on oxygen 24/7. I spoke with Debbie Larson (Larry’s long time friend and caregiver) today, and Larry has dialysis site problems and double pneumonia. He was admitted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital several days ago in Roanoke, VA and is there now.

Larry is seriously ill but is showing some improvement as of yesterday.”

Tim said that fans and friends can send cards and well wishes to Larry at:

Larry McPeak
1910 West Lee Highway
Apartment E
Wytheville, VA 24382

Let’s hope to hear some good news from Larry soon.

A flood of old music from Rebel

Rebel Records has been focusing of late on a slew of re-issues and compilations from their rich catalog of bluegrass music. This week, they have announced five more sure to warm the hearts of fans who remember the ’70s and ’80s – or who missed out on the great music from that era.

There are two new digital-only re-releases that hit earlier this week, both of which featuring bands that helped bridge the divide between the 1st and 2nd generation of musicians to the sound and style we know as contemporary bluegrass today.

1971’s Traveling Light from Cliff Waldron was his fourth project for Rebel, at a time when his band, The New Shades of Grass, consisted of some of the top pickers the DC area had to offer. Ben Eldridge was on banjo, Mike Auldridge on resonator guitar, Bill Poffinberger on fiddle, and Ed Ferris on bass. Waldron played guitar and sang lead with a smooth baritone that presaged the country-inflected vocal style that is common in bluegrass today.

As was the Waldron style, the songs are drawn from bluegrass favorites, then-contemporary writers and country classics.

Help Me Make It Through The Night
Then I’ll Miss You
Falling Leaves
Rock Bottom
Silver Wings
Bill Cheatham

Ice Covered Birches
Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine
Close The Door Lightly
Sunnyside of My Life
You Ain’t Going Nowhere
Red Apple Rag

The Virginia Squires were a very popular group in the mid-1980s, and served as an important link in the transition to what we see now as mainstream bluegrass. Like The Knoxville Grass before them and the Lonesome River Band that followed, The Squires had a muscular, in-your-face style that was decidedly young and fresh – and starkly different from what else was out there on the festival scene.

Mark Newton was on guitar, Sammy Shelor on banjo, Rickie Simpkins on mandolin and fiddle, and Ronnie Simpkins on bass. Mountains and Memories was their first album in 1984, and it was a hit right away, most notably their cut of Randal Hylton’s Cold Sheets of Rain.

For many in the wider bluegrass world, this record provided the first glimpse at these future band leaders and super sidemen, and provided Newton with a larger audience for his distinctive vocal style.

Tracks include:

Cold Sheets of Rain
The Sky is Weeping
Chilly Winds
The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee
Ticket to Ride
Country Song

Only a Memory Away
I Will Run
Nightime Lady
MacClenny Farewell
Honky Tonk Women

Both re-issues are available wherever digital downloads are sold online.

Rebel also has 3 CD compilations due to hit in June. Each brings selected tracks from multiple recordings into these special editions from some of Rebel’s most beloved artists.John Duffey – The Rebel Years: 1962-1977 features cuts of Duffey from projects with The Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene, along with two early Gentlemen tracks previously unrealeased on compact disc.

Let Him Lead You is a second CD sampler of Larry Sparks Gospel gems, taken from albums between 1974 and 2000. Larry contributed to the extensive liner notes, written by Chris Jones.

Yesteryears: Best of the McPeak Brothers pulls tracks from their three Rebel LPs in the late ’70s/early ’80s, all of which have been out of print for more than 20 years.

Look for all three CD compilations on June 7.

Udell McPeake passes

Tim White, host of the popular Song Of The Mountains show on television, informs us that Udell McPeak passed away yesterday morning after a long illness. He was born on June 12, 1935 and died on December 16, 2009.

He was an original member of The McPeak Brothers, which was carried on for many years by brothers Larry, Mike and Dewey. Udell had performed with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers in the 1950s and also worked with the Shenandoah Cut Ups. The first edition of the McPeak Brothers featured Udell, Larry and Dewey in 1963, with Mike coming on to take Udell’s spot when he went to work with Red Smiley. The band’s succes on radio, television and recordings came after Udell left the group.

Tim asked that we request prayers for the whole McPeak family. Larry is in poor health as well, waiting for a kidney transplant.

UPDATE 5:30 p.m. – Here are the details on the Udell McPeak funeral arrangements. Visitation will be this Friday (12/18) at 6:00 p.m., with the funeral to follow at 7:00.

Barnett Funeral Home
325 Church Street
Wytheville VA 24382

Severe winter weather is expected in southwest Virginia this weekend, so be please be aware should be considering attending.

UPDATE12/18 – Owing to the winter storm warning, Udell McPeak’s funeral has been moved to Saturday (12/19).

An appeal for Larry McPeak

The McPeak Brothers were a fixture on the southeastern US bluegrass scene from the late 1960s through the mid ’80s. They appeared on national television and had a number of popular recordings during that time.

Four different brothers were members of the group over the years, and now one of them, Larry McPeak, is in ill health and in need of a kidney transplant. Larry has been ill for some time, and underwent a liver transplant in 2001, and his doctors have found that the medications he has taken since that time – along with his diabetes – have caused a complete shutdown of his kidneys.

The costs for this procedure are staggering, and even with health insurance, Larry will be facing crushing medical bills. The National Foundation for Transplants has set up a page where his many friend and fans can make contributions specifically to help with the estimated $25,000 he will need in the short term.

Larry has performed of late as bass player with The VW Boys, and has dedicated his life to performing bluegrass music. Anyone who is in a position to make a donation will be supporting a fine man and a real bluegrass soldier.

More details can be found on the NFT site.

Virginia Tech String Project

Virginia Tech, here in Southwest, VA, is reaching out to elementary schools in the area with a string program.

The Virginia Tech String Project will provide affordable string music instruction for third and forth grade students of both public and private schools in the area. Classes will be held on the VT campus on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Why is this of interest to us?

Mandolinist Jeff Midkiff is the Master Teacher for the String Project. Midkiff grew up in the area, and attended VT where he studied music education. He has conducted several youth orchestras, composed and performed his own pieces with the orchestras around the country, and toured internationally as a member of both the McPeak Brothers and Lonesome River Band.

The program begins later this month when Midkiff, along with other teachers, will visit area elementary schools to recruit students for the program. Classes will begin September 4, 2007.

Two new download reissues from Rebel

Rebel Records has reissued two more classic out-of-print recordings as download-only releases.

First up is a Lonesome River Band album from 1988, one which many recent fans of the band may learn about for the first time. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning came out on LP several years before the band took the bluegrass world by storm with Carrying The Tradition, but featured the drive and agreesive style that later (and current) editions of the band perfected.

This release featured founding members Tim Austin on guitar and Jerry McMillan on bass, along with Brian Fessler on banjo and Adam Steffey on mandolin. As you might guess from the title, this project features a mix of secular and spiritual material, with Adam’s instrumental take on Daybreak In Dixie.

You can sample the tracks or purchase the music in iTunes.

Makin’ Tracks by The McPreake Brothers was first released in 1983 on County Records – the last of the three McPeake projects for Rebel/County. By this time, the three brothers (Dewey, Larry and Mike) had established themselves as one of the premiere bluegrass vocal groups of their day.

Living in Southwest Virginia as I do, there were many opportunities to see them perform live, but they never toured far from their homes near Wytheville, VA, and their fine harmony was kept a secret from many bluegrass fans around the world – other than from these fine recordings.

Check out this valuable reissue on iTunes.