Spending time with a bluegrass legend.

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Last Sunday we spent an intimate and delightful afternoon with Tom Gray, founding member of the legendary bluegrass band The Seldom Scene and a two-time Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductee. Held at The Palisades Hub in Northwest Washington, DC, the event wove together music and storytelling as Tom shared highlights from his remarkable career.

Candice and I came to know Tom when he would help his daughter Julie from Evensong Farm at the Silver Spring Farmers Market. The days I’d see Tom at the market we’d strike up conversations about music, musicians he’s known, and upcoming events where he was performing. I was always pleased to see Tom there, as it was a great way to spend a few minutes with a real gentleman (not to mention a terrific bassist) and hear some of his stories from the road.

Tom doesn’t come to the market as frequently these days, so I was delighted to learn about the Backstage at the Hub event in Palisades. Tom grew up in that neighborhood when it was known as Potomac Heights and one of the stories he told on Sunday was of how his father was a key driver in bringing the various neighborhoods in the area together under the Palisades banner. Guided in conversation by Mark Segraves of NBC4, Tom shared his history with the community, including wonderful stories of family canoe trips on the Potomac, a tradition that has now lasted more than 70 years.

Of course, Tom also talked about music and musicians. He recounted how he’d first been exposed to bluegrass and country music early in life by his babysitter in Chicago, where he was born. She loved to come to the Gray’s house because their radio could pick up WSM—the home of the Grand Ole Opry—from Nashville. Tom said he got his love for the music be sitting on her lap listening to Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.

In another story Tom mentioned that his first instrument was the accordion (which would delight my good friend from Staunton, Virginia, Jim Harrington, who plays accordion in bands throughout the Shenandoah Valley.) Tom said that the accordion was a great instrument for learning music theory, although he didn’t call it that at the time. He still thinks of moving up and down on the bass to change chords as he learned pressing the buttons on that first instrument.

The family moved to Washington when his father started a job as a lobbyist, and Tom began playing in bands in high school and then with local acts such as Buzz Busby. We heard about the young Emmylou Harris (“people in Washington knew she was going to be a star”) and how he came to join what was known as the “first classic” Country Gentlemen lineup.

There were lots of John Duffey stories including how he left the music business for a while after he split with the Country Gentlemen. Tom said that he was participating in the jam session at Ben Eldridge‘s home at the time, and they knew that if Duffey had a chance to sing with John Starling, another regular participant, he’d return to the music he loved. Here’s the description of how what became the Seldom Scene was founded from Tom’s Hall of Fame biography.

“When Tom Gray and John Duffey got together with John Starling, Ben Eldridge, and Mike Auldridge in 1969, it was for a basement jam session at Eldridge’s house in Bethesda, Maryland. Their first public performance was at a Georgetown rock club in late 1971. All had day jobs, so the group named itself the Seldom Scene. Their weekly gig at Bethesda’s Red Fox Inn (moving to the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, after five years) continued to be packed, and the demand for concert, festival, and recording appearances was irresistible.”

Both the Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene changed bluegrass music forever, the latter by showcasing “an undeniable knack for blending both old and new music and traditions without sacrificing what makes either potent and durable.” Old Train, the title track of the band’s 1980 album, provides a good example of the original band’s sound in its prime.

Rider was a traditional song that the Scene arranged for their Act III album with extended jams (especially when played live). It kicks off with Tom’s bass line that fan’s instantly recognized, and then just before the four minute mark Tom and Ben Eldridge take the lead with some wonderful interplay between bass and banjo (and with a fiddle thrown in on the studio version).

Adding to the afternoon’s delight, Tom was joined by his band Blue Spruce, who performed traditional, modern, and original bluegrass before and after the interview. The band features Andrew Tontala (vocals, guitar), Barb Diederich (vocals, mandolin, bass), Shige Takeshita (vocals, banjo), Dave Goldman (fiddle), and of course Tom (vocals, bass, mandolin).

I want to end with two additional videos of Tom’s music. The first, Lay Down Sally, is from a live Seldom Scene show (possibly around 1985) when Phil Rosenthal was in the band as the lead singer. John Duffey, the larger-than-life big kid, was having a ball . . . and during the bass solo at the 2:53 mark Duffey decides to rip open Tom’s shirt to get him into the spirit of the performance. Everyone in the band takes John’s antics in stride, but the crowd loves it.

The final video is of a later edition of The Seldom Scene reuniting with former members Starling, Eldridge, and Gray (with Emmylou Harris on backing vocals) to create the Smithsonian Folkways album Long Time… Seldom Scene. On this video the group has just finished recording the classic Body and Soul, as re-envisioned on the spot by vocalist John Starling. It is a beautiful arrangement, and a great tribute to the durability of what Tom Gray, John Starling, John Duffey, Ben Eldridge, and Mike Auldridge began decades ago in that Bethesda basement.

Sunday’s event was a rare chance “to go backstage with Tom Gray, celebrate the enduring spirit of bluegrass, and connect with the history of the Palisades neighborhood.” Thanks to Tom and all involved.

More to come . . .

DJB