Frying Pan Bluegrass BandThis band is no longer a member of CBMS bands on call. Please see our list of member bands. Thanks.
Kevin Glenn - guitar * John Livingston - banjo * Melissa Glenn - bass * Charlie Bailey - mandolin, Dobro Profile by Sam Cohen, from Pow'r Pickin', Oct., 2003One sunny afternoon in Aspen, Colorado I discovered the Frying Pan Bluegrass Band. I read in the Aspen Times of a music event taking place that afternoon high atop Aspen Mountain at the Sundeck Restaurant. The article noted that The Frying Pan Bluegrass Band was playing there that afternoon. I was on it. When I arrived, they were already playing, probably half way through the first set. The first thing I noticed was their harmony vocals. This sounded like a band that has been together a long time and one that worked hard and long to polish and perfect their harmony singing. First impression, these guys are hot! The next thing I noticed was the solid rhythmic drive that supported the harmony singing. They had it down. Their instruments solos were tasteful, clean, well crafted and with very nice dynamics between the soloing members. They were sticking pretty true to the classic "High Lonesome Sound" of traditional bluegrass. These were 5 very talented musicians who were playing bluegrass music together and having a great time doing it. And you could see that the audience was really loving this band's performance. They had it all. From sweet country ballads to bluegrass barn-burners, this band played like consummate professionals with a passion for this music. I was diggin' this band! Between the first and second sets, I met Charlie Bailey, the mandolin player. He began to tell me about the mandolin he plays and how he built it himself. His Dobro, too. His mandolin sounded like an old vintage instrument whose sound had improved with age. As a mandolin player myself, I was thoroughly impressed. He mentioned that he was somewhat new to the band and that this was their first gig together, with Charlie on mandolin and Dobro. I replied, "You've got to be kidding me." As the gusty winds picked up it, the sound system was pickin up some wind noise. They asked the audience if it would be OK if they played acoustically so they wouldn't have to compete with the sound of the wind in the microphones. The audience cheered them on. So they turned off the PA system and they all stepped forward to the front row as the banjo kicked off the next tune. The audience was very attentive and riveted to their performance and realizing that this was indeed a special treat. People seated in the back 5 rows moved their chairs as far front as they could get. I was lucky to be seated in the front row. I could watch and feel this spontaneous interaction between the band and the audience taking place; it was very cool. The chemistry was there. It was like an intimate setting you would experience at a house concert. It seemed as if they were playing to you, for you, in your living room, but you were actually on top of Aspen Mountain with this amazing view and live bluegrass music echoing throughout the valley with this really cool vibe all around us. Being a musician myself, I recall thinking, "Wow what a great gig this is." I was envious. At this point you can't tell who's having more fun, the audience or the band. The Frying Pan Bluegrass Band members include John Livingston on banjo, Kevin Glenn on guitar, Melissa Glenn on bass, and Charlie Bailey on mandolin and Dobro, all residing in Basalt CO. The band has been playing and performing for seven years around the Roar ing Fork Valley and beyond. The band took its name from the Frying Pan River, where most of the members once lived. The band is known for its driving sound; tight vocal harmonies fast picked instrumentals, and many original songs. All the members of the band are accomplished anglers. Charlie Bailey is the newest member in the band and the band is very excited about the talent he brings both vocally and instrumentally. He was born and raised in Detroit, and has lived in Basalt since 1982. Charlie is also a very talented instrument builder, playing a mandolin and two dobros he built himself. "You should build a mandolin," he said to me. He continued, "There's nothing like the feeling of satisfaction you get from playing an instrument that you've built yourself." His musical influences are Sandy Munro, Bill Monroe, Tim O'Brien, Jerry Douglas, and Dave Notor. Charlie works for the City of Aspen water department and is married with three kids. For the past few years he's been running the band and troubadour contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Melissa Glenn comes from Medford, Oregon, and is the band member with the most bluegrass heritage. She grew up running around Bluegrass Festivals while her father played on stage in various bands. Her father, John Bivens, was hired by Bill Monroe to play guitar when he was 19, but he declined. He always regretted not taking the job, and later in life joined Bill on stage at a Bluegrass Festival in California. He did play with various talents including Dolly Parton, Rose Maddox, Bryon Berline, Leroy Mack, Ken Orrick, and many others. Sadly, John passed on unexpectedly at an early age. Melissa brings to the band a driving bass, and harmonies that come from her soul. Charlie refers to Melissa as "our traditional bluegrass guide". She is the mother of two children with husband Kevin. Kevin Glenn grew up south of Richmond, Virginia, and moved to Basalt two weeks after finishing college and has lived on the Frying Pan River the past 12 years. Ten years ago he and John Livingston started the Lynn Britt Cabin Dinner Ride for the Aspen Ski Company. The restaurant runs six nights a week and is built around their entertainment on guitar, banjo and mandolin playing bluegrass, folk, western, and other kinds of music. In the summer he works as a fishing guide. His musical influences are Doc, Tony Rice, Larry Keel, David Grier, Jerry Garcia, Steven Stills, any many many others. Currently Kevin is working out a deal with Charlie for a trade of some of his hand tied flies for Charlie to build him a custom Brazilian rosewood guitar. On banjo, there's John Livingston, from St. Louis, Missouri. In 1989, while in his junior year at the University of Colorado in Boulder CO, he had a moving musical experience. Late one night, on his way back from the campus library, he saw a man playing banjo outside of a coffee shop. There was nobody around. John says, "I was completely enthralled with this sound that I had never heard. That night changed my life forever." Although he had no musical background, he decided to get started on banjo. His earliest influence was Paul Weidig, his teacher in Boulder CO. He was immediately captivated by Scruggs style picking. He saw a lot of Pete Wernick shows while still in school. The band, The Front Range, was also very influential starting in the early days. Other artist influences include Rob McCoury, Tom Adams, Ron Stewart, and most recently, a new innovative picker out of Houston, Texas, Bobby Earthman. John is a professional fly fishing guide in the summertime and he entertains with Kevin Glenn in the wintertime at a nighttime restaurant on Snowmass Mountain. John and Kevin have been forging their bluegrass band sound with various members for about 10 years now. They believe that they really have a unit that will work well now. Everyone is committed. The band is very excited for their future, booking gigs a year out, looking to play more festivals, and play on the Front Range. Also, this fall the band will be working on their second CD. The band continues to pay respects to their traditional influences while continually adding original material that is traditionally rooted and also approaches progressive bluegrass music.Oh by the way, all members of the band are accomplished anglers. Their band photo suggests to me that when they're not pickin', they're fishin'.
TOP |
