Riverside Band Members


Jake Morrow, Emma Morrow, Steve Hendershott, Bill Flemer, and David Olsen, are longtime Princeton-area musicians, whose collective experience in rock, country, and folk idioms informs their approach to traditional bluegrass music. They also bring a bluegrass flavor to songs by The Beatles, The Byrds, and to country standards and western swing music by such artists as Hank Williams and Bob Wills.

Jake Morrow, guitar/bass/vocals.

Emma Morrow, guitar/fiddle/vocals.

Bill Flemer, guitar/bass/vocals. When Bill's name comes up, all local musicians agree on one thing: this guy knows more about trees than any of them. His nursery-industry colleagues agree, too: Bill should stick to music. He can be heard to advantage singing the high bass part on several songs, while he flails at the guitar, or assaults the string bass with a desperate intensity that hints at his turbulent inner life.


Steve Hendershott, mandolin/fiddle/vocals.
Steve's mandolin and fiddle pyrotechnics should only be attempted by trained professionals, outdoors, and under adult supervision; do not hold in hand. His vocal style has been compared to Melville's fabled White Whale; it rises from untold depths, blows a geyser of spray high into the air, slaps its flukes on the song's surface like a thunderclap, and then vanishes again, to God knows where. ("call me Ahab. Call me a cab!")


Dave Olsen, 5-string banjo. Mature individual, gentle with children, good with pets, handy around the house, seeks committed group relationship with like-minded bluegrassers. "I enjoy bright sunshiny gigs and quiet, intimate candlelit practices, with just the four of us. My motto: Treat every banjo with the respect due a loaded one. And remember: the time to enjoy a sociable drink with friends is after the instruments have been cleaned and put safely away in their cases. Why endanger yourself or loved one through carelessness?"