The Bogus Family The Band

Our Story

Bogus Family Members

Cecil Abels - guitar, lead vocals

Cecil was born and raised singing in Mississippi. He credits his family with his love of singing and blending vocal harmonies. Whether singing around the house, on long car rides with his family, or doing "specials" in the Methodist church, music has been a part of his life as long as he can remember. Twenty seven years ago he took up the guitar and began accompanying himself on folk and pop songs of the era. Since then he has played everything from y'allternative to country and blues, and during a twenty year hitch in the Navy he performed all around the world. In 1987, he met Scott, Susy, and Lincoln in Okinawa, Japan, and they started a band which would one day become the Bogus Family.

Rich Stillman - banjo, vocals

Now in his twenty-second year playing banjo in bluegrass and folk bands, Rich Stillman strives to play inventive banjo while still "keeping it down to earth." Rich has four albums to his credit, with the Jersey Travelers (Leavin' Town, 1982), Southern Rail (Looking for the Lighthouse, 1987, and Home, 1989) and WayStation (Looking for Love, 1996) and has performed with a number of other bands, including one set with James Monroe and the Midnight Ramblers. He is a six-time winner of the Lowell Banjo Contest and was New Jersey State Bluegrass Banjo Champion in 1983.

Jeff Miller - dobro, vocals

Jeff Miller plays the resonator guitar (dobro) and adds baritone vocals. A consummate musician, he provides the band with much of its arrangement expertise. Jeff has been playing dobro for twelve years, doubles on banjo, and has played a wide variety of instruments and styles of music over the years, including keyboards, saxophone, electric guitar and bass, and French horn. Prior to taking up bluegrass, Jeff and his wife Barb played together in a rock and R&B band called Captain Mojo, and they were in the bluegrass bands Yankee Division and Stringtown before becoming part of the Bogus Family.

Barb Diederich - bass, vocals

Barb, who plays bass for the band and sings harmony vocals, has been playing for twenty years, starting with electric bass and switching to bass fiddle in 1990. She was a member of Yankee Division, Stringtown, and the Orrin Star Duo, and has performed with many other top New England bluegrass musicians including reunion performances of the Charles River Valley Boys and Joe Val's New England Bluegrass Boys. Barb created and maintains two of the most popular bluegrass Web sites, BarbCal - the Boston Area and Regional Bluegrass Calendar and Barb Diederich's Handy Bluegrass Links.

Lincoln Meyers - lead guitar, vocals

Lincoln has been playing guitar since he was a teenager. His father was a well respected jazz aficionado and Boston area radio personality in the fifties and sixties, and while growing up in St.Louis, Missouri, Lincoln was exposed to jazz and swing music. He became excited by bluegrass after an introduction by his brother, a bluegrass picker and music store owner. Winner of numerous flatpicking guitar championships, Lincoln is a much-sought-after picker and session man all over New England.

Susy Rudy - vocals

Susy has been singing family harmonies since childhood, beginning with her two sisters in the back seat of the family station wagon. She polished her unique style of alto counter-melodies on the stage with her sister during their college years in Portland, Oregon. Susy's been singing with Scott and Cecil since they met overseas in 1987 and has been the key to the "Bogus Sound" ever since. As the band culinary expert with near-magical powers, Susy can also be counted on to make sure the Bogus Family eats well, often, and in style.

Scott Foster - guitar, vocals

A solid rhythm guitarist and "anchor man" on the bottom vocals, Scott Foster has been singing and playing acoustic instruments for over twenty years. Still, he modestly credits his contribution to the family's strong harmonies to the talents of his wife, Susy, and Cecil. An original member of High and Tight Bluegrass, Scott now plays with both the Bogus Family and his own swing trio, the Metropolitans, in Washington DC.

What People Are Saying

Pati Crooker, promoter of the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival:

"The Bogus Family combines a fascinating cast of musicians radiating with talent, humor, charm, personality and style. The band is true Bluegrass. They aim to entertain and they get the job done!"

Scott Donnelly, host of "The Pickin' Parlor", WUNH 91.3 FM , University of New Hampshire Radio:

"The Bogus Family has the best singer in New England."

Mac McAnally, DreamWorks singer-songwriter and Nashville record producer:

"Great song selection... good people making good music... the guitar player is a hoss!"

Geoff Bartley, Waterbug Records recording artist and host of music at the Cantab Lounge, Cambridge, MA:

"A fantastic band and a super bunch of pickers... I love these guys!"

Don't miss out on Bogus Family news! Click here to join the Bogus Family's electronic mailing list. Bogus Family Band / Maintained by Barb Diederich / barb@alum.mit.edu Last updated December 17, 1999. This page has been visited times since August 26, 1999.

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