The Author

IT WAS QUITE A SURPRISE when my report on Bluegrass Etc’s Rainford gig in the September edition of NWBN resulted in an write to from the States. The Write to was from Wally Barnick - a name which I vaguely recalled seeing listed on the band’s album notes. Wally had seen my report and explained that he is the regular bass player / vocalist with Bluegrass Etc., but had had to miss this year’s UK tour due to other commitments. (Steve Spurgin had deputised).

These commitments, he went on to explain, relates to his work with his other band, the Cache Valley Drifters. Amazingly, this band has been in existence since 1975, and their latest album mightyfine.net (on Tricopolis) features Dennis Caplinger as guest fiddler. Wally asked if I would like a copy. (No prizes for guessing my response!) The album duly arrived a week later accompanied by extensive publicity blurb and photos - and it is quite superb.

The CVD are Wally Barnick, Bill Griffin, and Mike Mullins. These guys are first and foremost wonderful musicians, and they play their instruments on each selection with taste and integrity. They have been a mainstay of the folk and bluegrass scene in California since the 1980s. Their past album, White Room, won national acclaim with its unusual character.For a bluegrass band to tackle pieces like Boy in the Bubble and White Room with style, excitement, and grace, grabbed many new followers, even those outside the bluegrass and folk music realm.

The material on the album may be a little eclectic for those with narrow bluegrass tastes, featuring as it does songs such as Drift Away (a pop hit for Dobie Gray), the Eagles’ Hollywood Waltz and Leon Russell’s Eyes of a Painter. But all are performed in acoustic bluegrass style, with mandolin and guitar leads and fine fiddle breaks,

However it is the vocal harmonies that really grab the listener. All three members of the band take their turn with the lead vocals - apart from Wally, there is Mike Mullins (acoustic guitar) and Bill Griffin (mandolin) - but it is when the three voices combine that this band excel.

Interestingly, two of the numbers on the album - Someplace Far Away and the late Hoyt Axton’s Evangelina- are the songs on which Wally takes lead vocals on Bluegrass Etc’s latest album Home Is Where The Heart Is (reviewed in NWBN, Nov, 1999)

Wally says the Cache Valley Drifters are always pursuing new venues and audiences and would be interested in touring here if there was sufficient interest. Are there any takers out there?

Visit Wally and CVD

Chris Haggett, Warrington.

1st Jan 2000