Please note this article was written and published in the July 1976 issue of New Hampshire PROFILES magazine.
Now the sunshine lingers there, And the roses bloom as fair In the wudwood where together we would roam; In the churchyard near, Sleeps the one I loved so dear, On the hills ofmy Old New Hampshire home from "My Old New' Hampshire Home" Words by Andrew' F. Sterling Music by Harry Von Tizler Published 1898 by William C. Dunn & Co.
THERE'S a lot of argument these days about what bluegrass is. Or what it should be. People who haven't heard of it think it's the infield at Churchill Downs or something to smoke. Those who have heard of it think it's the hillbilly twang of Hee-Haw spoofs. And those who listen to it and play it are divided. There are the purists on the one hand who feel bluegrass should remain traditional. On the other hand are the progressives who believe bluegrass should change and become "newgrass." But all argument aside, bluegrass simply is music. Music people hear every day lately during a lot of television commercials and movies. Banjo music. Fiddle music. Music to which one's only response can be a stomp of the foot and an occasional "yee-hah." And like its namesake at the Kentucky racetrack, it's growing. It's growing right here in New Hampshire at a surprising rate. Why, we've already hosted the First Annual Granite State Bluegrass and Fiddle Convention over at Epsom where nearly 4500 "bluegrass bums" went into nirvana for three days last year. The Second Annual Et Cetera is set for the last weekend in July this year and promises to be even better. It's the pubs I want to talk about. Specifically, the pubs in the Nashua area where every once in a while a body can catch an excellent bluegrass band between the pickled eggs and beer. Their name, The Lost River Ramblers, commemorates a piece of local geography in the tradition of so many of their southern predecessors. And their music is likewise traditional, down home bluegrass that would make even the legendary Bill Monroe crack a rare smile. "Bluegrass is alive, bluegrass is here, and bluegrass is a unique style of music. It's somethin' you wanna keep right in the foreground in front of the public eye," says Larry Scofield, guitar player and sometime spokesman ("Not leader," he stresses) for The Lost River Ramblers. Larry used to host "pickin' sessions" at his home in Reeds Ferry where up to ten people would gather on a Friday night to play and sing for the sheer joy of it. During the fall of 1970, a group began to crystallize. Since there were already too many guitars, Warren Cleary traded his in for the much smaller mandolin. Larry's cousin, Earl Scofield, began dragging a large stand-up bass fiddle to these sessions for much the same reason and because the regular bassist was not always able to play due to poor health. Earl also dragged along a shy but talented banjo player named Al Stapleford, with whom they all worked at Sanders. Al proved to be the catalyst. They practiced steadily every week, and The Stoney Mountain Boys, as they were first known, were on their way. Their first gig was at the American Legion hall in Reeds Ferry. They made $20 for four hours of playing four bucks each. Not exactly big money, but at least they got paid. Sometimes finishing a night without getting beaten up is pay enough. Let's face it. Where there's beer, there are bound to be crazies. One night in a Milford pub the band met a sailor who introduced himself by repeatedly requesting they play "Tiny Bubbles," an old Navy standard. Because the band wouldn't comply, said sailor introduced a brick to the windshield of Larry's car. It cost him $100 to replace the windshield, and they only made $60 that night. They kept right on playing, though, in spite of the crazy sailors and broken windshields. In 1973 they changed their name to The Lost River Ramblers. The following year they added a "flat pick" guitar player, Ed Robinson, who had formerly played in a Connecticut group and couldn't wait to join another bluegrass band after moving to Nashua. Ralph Lebrun, an excellent fiddler with the Nashoba Valley Boys of Groton, Massachusetts, also joined, rounding out the group to it present membership. "We're just six guys with a deep-rooted interest in bluegrass," explains Larry about the attitude of the group. "We feel that our type of music is very unique, and we're trying to introduce it to this area." He makes it sound almost like a cause, and so it has become. The word is authentic. It's on their business cards and foremost in their music. No amplified instruments, no drums, no accordions, not even a kazoo. If you learn anything when you talk to The Lost River Ramblers, it's that these boys play pure, unadulterated bluegrass, even if it's their version of an Eagles' song. It's a back-to-the-roots style of music. It's not nostalgia, and it certainly isn't a revival as some have referred to bluegrass. It never died, and The Lost River Ramblers want people to know that. But this hasn't been without its problems. "We've lost a lot of playin’ gigs, Larry explains, "that we could have had if we would have modified into country, so people could dance. But we're a bluegrass band, and everything we do is gonna be within the framework of bluegrass music. But if they could become more popular and make more money, why don't they go country? Al and his banjo bristle. "That's like asking Leonard Bernstein why he doesn't play in a rock band if he could get a wider audience. Because that's not what he does." So there, It's not what they do. But what they do, they do well. They've appeared on radio shows and have played in festivals. Articles about them have appeared in the trade magazines Pickin', Muleskinner News, and Bluegrass Unlimited. And most recently they've recorded on the Onyx label a single entitled "Grassfire," written by Al Stapleford and arranged by the entire band. They seem to be having quite a good time doing all of this. Just ask Larry about the festival last year at Epsom. "Fantastic! We had four nights and three days of solid bluegrass music.
PS by this writer: By the year 1978 some of us found families and other interests, leaving the Lost River Ramblers to take on a new look. That year we performed in what would be our last Bluegrass Festival. In the few years that followed the Lost River Ramblers would survive with various members but we will always remember those early years. |