Bluegrass Patriots 
Traditional Bluegrass
Dan Rogers - bass * Dan Mitchell - fiddle * Willie McDonald
- mandolin * Ken Seaman - banjo * Glenn Zankey - guitar
Contact:
See also: A message from The Bluegrass Patriots
about "Ranger" Rick Bradstreet and CBMS
Contribution to the Rick Bradstreet Memorial Forum
Profile by Bill Donaldson, from Pow'r
Pickin', June, 2001
"Shtick!"
According to Webster, it's an entertainment routine or gimmick. According
to Willie McDonald of the Bluegrass Patriots, it's something good bands
have.
Willie is the outspoken mandolin picker of this popular Ft Collins
based band, and he knows good shtick when he sees it. All the Patriots
agree, whatever you call it, a band needs to be entertaining to be successful.
Good musicianship is essential, but it takes more than playing all the
notes right to be entertaining and keep the fans coming back.
By any measure you won't find a more successful and entertaining bluegrass
band in Colorado than the Bluegrass Patriots. These boys have been picking
together and packing them in since 1980. Jimmy Carter was in the White
House back then. There was still a wall in Berlin.
"In 1980, Ft Collins was a vortex for bluegrass music,"
Willie explains. The vortex attracted five dedicated country-loving
musicians from all around the land to come together at a place called
the Town Pump Tavern.
Dan Rogers is the one Colorado native of the bunch and seems to have
been at the center of the vortex. Dan was proprietor of the Town Pump
Tavern in 1975, where he picked bluegrass music with the Town Pump Toejammers.
Today Dan sings tenor and thumps the doghouse bass for the Bluegrass
Patriots.
When he isn't playing music or running his carpet cleaning business,
Dan loves to entertain children in the role of Santa Claus. For the
past three years he has been invited to San Diego to perform as the
jolly old elf. Last year he had the honor of "wearing the big red
suit and sitting on the throne" at Flatirons Crossing Mall in Broomfield
while the Bluegrass Patriots performed alongside.
Dan has recently taken an interest in "old timey" music and
plays with a band called the Virginia Dale Polecats. "We don't
get paid for anything, but have done a lot of benefits, for the Colorado
Lung Association, and to raise money for the old Virginia Dale Stage
Station up on the border on the original Overland Trail."
Dan notes, "I've seen a lot of changes in the band over the years.
Mostly rising hairlines and expanding waistlines." One thing is
not likely to change for Dan though. "I will be the last of the
Bluegrass Patriots to have a computer," he insists.
Rick Bradstreet, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, brings an eclectic musical
background to the group. He adds a little Bob Wills influence to the
band with his resonator guitar and baritone voice.
"I'm doing music full time," Rick says. "I teach music
and do studio work. Teaching is my passion right now." Rick teaches
standard and resonator guitar at Osprey Guitars. He gets in his western
swing licks with the band, Cowtown Boogie, and he has the distinction
of being the one guitarist in the Ft Collins mandolin orchestra known
as Mandomonium.
Rick loves the pure sound of bluegrass, western swing, and old time
country. "A Dobro is a poor substitute for a fiddle in a bluegrass
band," Rick is quick to point out. Perhaps, but there can be no
denying Rick's slide guitar is a big factor in the sweet sound and popularity
of the Bluegrass Patriots.
Ken Seaman grew up with country music in Eminence, Missouri. He saw
Bill Monroe perform live at the local school nearly fifty years ago
and was hooked. When the "Nashville sound" took country music
off in another direction in the late fifties, Ken stayed true to bluegrass.
"Bluegrass remained uncompromised country," says Ken.
Ken seemed to gravitate naturally to acoustic music and played a Gene
Autry guitar as a youth before picking up a Harmony banjo and teaching
himself to play by listening to the sounds he liked coming across the
radio. It took some figuring, though, to understand why his flatpicking
on a tenor banjo didn't sound the same as what Earl Scruggs was doing
on the radio. Eventually, Ken learned how it was done, and today adds
the sound of the traditional five string banjo rolls in the best Scruggs
tradition.
Ken was planning a vacation trip back in the 70's when he saw an ad
in Bluegrass Unlimited for Monday night jams at Dan's Town Pump Tavern
in Ft Collins. He made a point of stopping in to pick a little on
his trip and liked it so much he came back again and eventually made
Ft Collins his home.
Ken is still the driving force behind the MidWinter Bluegrass Festival
currently held every February in Northglenn, Colorado. He is retired
from his career as a teacher, but still runs a deck cleaning and refinishing
business. He is quick to brag about his most important job as his face
lights up and he explains, "I have a four year old granddaughter."
Willie McDonald was originally drawn from Burlington, Vermont to the
Ft Collins vortex in the 70's to go to school at CSU. One immediately
notices the lack of any New England in his voice. Willie asserts that
comes from years of singing high and lonesome. It's just not natural
to sing bluegrass with a Vermont twang. Willie played with several bands
around Ft Collins, and on tour, until he joined with the current group
in 1980 to form the Bluegrass Patriots.
Willie still keeps busy during the day with his painting business.
The one significant change in his life recently was tying the knot in
the ring of matrimony last September. "It was a bluegrass courtship,"
he explains.
Willie is the one with the IQ, according to Ken. "He's the only
one who would use 'shtick' in a complete sentence."
Willie points out there have been other noticeable changes in the
band over the years. Every member of the band has at one time or another
had a beard, and every one of them has been clean shaven. Except Dan.
Dan has kept his St. Nicholas whiskers the whole time. "I've seen
pictures of Dan without a beard," says Rick. "He needs a beard."
Glenn Zankey sings lead, plays guitar and hails from Pittsburgh. His
classically trained singing voice is the centerpiece of the accomplished
vocals of this group. As with Willie, it was Colorado State University
that first attracted Glenn to Ft Collins. He went on to earn a Computer
Science degree which he promptly put to good use working as a carpenter.
These days Glenn has his own general contracting business. "I'd
still rather be doing music," he says.
Glenn moonlights on other music gigs. "I've sung on three of Tim
O'Brian's records, and with Kate MacKenzie."
Glenn is the only one in the band who has not written a song that's
made it onto an album. But he's been working on one. It's been a few
years in the writing. "It'll be finished one day," Glenn insists.
Glenn says the boys have been together for a long time, and they're
getting up in years. Perhaps a little unsteady on the feet. A few extra
aches and pains on the road. "After all this time playing together,"
he says, "we are ready to add one more person to the band - a nurse."
They all have one thing in common, though: they are self employed in
their day jobs. That has allowed them to accommodate their music schedule.
Rick likens it to being able to take a working vacation several times
a year to places all over the world. Rick says, "People work in
their offices from 9-5 every day to save up their money and get a couple
weeks off a year. We get to travel several times a year to places we
would never otherwise see. We'd have to be crazy to stop."
The Bluegrass Patriots could easily open every show singing "I've
Been Everywhere." They've been to Canada, Ireland, England, Sweden,
Denmark, and they have performed in most states of the good old US of
A.
Rick once observed while playing in a casino in Reno, Nevada, that
the slot machines paid off the jackpot in C Major.
Willie recounts, "We really dragged around last summer. We went
to California, Nevada. We went to Vermont, stayed there for almost two
weeks, just made the plane at Logan airport in Boston, flew to Denver
CO, got in the van, drove to Ft Collins, and then took off that night
for Indiana. And we did a festival in Missouri on the way to Indiana."
"But we're about to go to Michigan for the first time," Glenn
interjects.
The Bluegrass Patriots say they're trying to slow down just a bit to
a less hectic schedule.
It's not all fun and games, however, witnessed by the adventures the
boys have had with bad weather and cantankerous motor vehicles. They've
been through four engines in their 1987 Dodge van so far. And that's
the new van. "Let's not talk about the old van," Ken cautions.
And before the old van was the old Suburban. Glenn recalls sleeping
on the hump in the back. "In those days I could sleep anywhere.
I couldn't do that today."
What advice would this group of old-timers have for people just getting
into bluegrass music with stars in their eyes?
Rick says, "Focus on vocals. It's what makes good bluegrass. Solid
vocals. Harmonies."
"Vocals define bluegrass," Ken agrees. "It's the content
of the music."
Willie adds, "The makeup of the band makes it bluegrass. It has
to have a banjo, mandolin, bass, guitar, fiddle, and dobro. If you play
'Stairway To Heaven' with those six instruments, it'll be bluegrass.
But if the drums and four electric guitars are playing 'Rocky Top,'
it's not bluegrass."
"Colorado is a big melting pot where people come from all over
and bring their musical influences with them," Rick says. "So
the Colorado sound is sort of a mixture from all over and we're a reflection
of that. We're from Missouri, the northeast, the midwest, and Colorado,
and we bring all that with us."
"Our sound is basically traditional," Rick goes on. "We
do maybe thirty percent original music and the rest are the bluegrass
standards." One hallmark of a Bluegrass Patriots show is that all
five members are featured. Everybody gets to be the "front man"
at one point or another. And true to their advice, regardless of who
is up front at the moment, their vocals are well polished with precise
harmonies.
Ken wraps it up, "The best thing about playing bluegrass in Colorado
is the fans. Colorado fans are top of the line." The others chime
in with amens. "They sit through lots of shows, still laugh at
the same jokes, and still applaud the same songs. They've been great
to us and they make it all worthwhile."
A Message from The Bluegrass
Patriots about "Ranger" Rick Bradstreet
"Ranger" Rick Bradstreet, 48, of Ft Collins, died Tuesday,
November 26, 2002, peacefully at his home of congestive heart failure.
Rick was born September 28, 1954, in Sioux City, Iowa. He married Andrea
Jean Legler, of Mission, Kansas, on May 26, 1984, in Emporia, Kansas.
Rick was a superb musician, songwriter, and entertainer. He mainly
performed Bluegrass music, but also enjoyed Jazz, and other music genres.
Rick won several instrumental awards including Colorado Flatpicking
Champion and Rocky Mountain Dobro Player of the Year. He was a member
of the Bluegrass Patriots. The band performs throughout the United States,
Ireland, England, Sweden, Denmark, and Canada and has several recordings
in their discography.
He performed in several bands before joining the Patriots in 1980,
including Bluegrass Feed & Seed Company, Flint Hills Drywell, and
The Skunk Valley Boys. He was also a member of Cowtown Boogie, Mandomonium,
and Victor Barnes. Rick was a studio session artist with many musicians
and groups.
His passion and respect for music and musicians led him to be one of
the most sought after guitar teachers in the state. Rick was regularly
asked to lead or actively participate in instrumental music workshops
at many of the festivals where the Bluegrass Patriots have performed.
In recent years he drew great satisfaction from teaching beginning guitar
classes at the Chilson Recreation Center in Loveland CO.
Richard is survived by his wife, Andrea Legler-Bradstreet, of Ft Collins, Colorado; parents, Kenneth and Ruth Bradstreet, of Emporia,
Kansas; two elder brothers, Larry Bradstreet, and his wife Sandra of
Sioux City, Iowa and Garry Bradstreet, of Shawnee Mission, Kansas; and
nieces Amy, Sara, Jennie, and Dawn and a nephew, Robert.
A bluegrass music celebration will be scheduled for a future date.
There will be no funeral or memorial services. In lieu of flowers, please
donate to the community radio station in Ft Collins, KRFC, 305 W. Magnolia
St. #213, Ft Collins CO 80521 or donate to your own local community
radio station.
In lieu of sending messages to the Patriots or Andie Bradstreet, the
Patriots request that you please share your remembrances and condolences
on the Rick Bradstreet Memorial Forum. The forum can be accessed on
the Patriots' web site at bluegrasspatriots.com
The Bluegrass Patriots
CBMS
Contribution to the Rick Bradstreet Memorial Forum
On behalf of the Members and the Board of Directors of the Colorado
Bluegrass Music Society, I would like to extend our sincere condolences
and thoughts to Andie and Ranger Rick's family, the Bluegrass Patriots,
his many, many friends, and all who were touched by his wonderful sense
of humor, warmth and superb musicianship.
Rick's dedication to bluegrass and his enthusiasm for sharing the music
on stage and off as a performer, teacher and mentor was a joy to behold.
Bluegrass in Colorado will be a little more 'high and lonesome' without
his presence. We will miss him. He will always hold a special place
in our hearts and memories... and in our music.
Sincerely,
B.J. Suter
Colorado Bluegrass Music Society
|
