Bands
Loafers’ Glory on Facebook
Loafers’ Glory
Hair-Raising Harmonies & Powerhouse Picking!!
In the winter of February 2010, Tom Sauber, Pat Sauber, Bill Bryson, Herb Pedersen decided to form a new group with a direction combining the best of old-time and bluegrass music. These brave hearts have been playing acoustic music for the better part of 45 years, and found that this is indeed the time for another highly skilled acoustic band… “Loafers’ Glory”.
Laurel Canyon Ramblers
Cream Of The Crop Bluegrass
Instrumental virtuosity and ultra-smooth vocal harmonies have made the Laurel Canyon Ramblers one of the most successful groups performing tradition-rooted bluegrass. Traditional bluegrass with a refreshingly original contemporary flair. Led by banjo, guitar, and dobro player and vocalist Herb Pedersen, the Laurel Canyon Ramblers represent over 100 years of bluegrass experience. Bassist/vocalist Bill Bryson is, like founder Herb Pedersen, an alumnus of the Desert Rose Band and also did stints with Country Gazette and the Bluegrass Cardinals, and is a member of Bluegrass, Etc. Guitarist/vocalist Roger Reed played with Byron Berline, and mandolin player/vocalist Kenny Blackwell a notable West Coast bluegrass players and session man. Guest fiddlers may include Tom Sauber, Byron Berline, or Gabe Witcher.
Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen
“Overlooked pair of old-timers are still finger-pickin’ good”
Hillman and Pedersen met in 1963 at the Troubadour, the legendary L.A. club, when they were aspiring 18- year-old folk and bluegrass musicians. Chris Hillman, a key figure in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Herb Pedersen played together in the Desert Rose Band. They explore the back roads of American folk with a collection of songs that reflect the depth and vitality of their songwriting and musicianship. Beneath the backdrop of soaring vocal harmonies, instrumental sides of the two players emerge. Hillman’s excellent guitar and mandolin stylings blend beautifully with the traditional flavors provided by Pedersen’s fiery banjo picking. After 40 years together, their harmony is so tight that it’s almost as if they were singing in one clear, tenor voice.
IT TAKES TWO - By Mike Thomas, Pacific Sun, November 20, 2002
Desert Rose Band
The Desert Rose Band formed in 1985 with primary songwriter Hillman on lead vocals, guitar, and mandolin. Other members…included banjoist/guitarist Herb Pedersen, guitarist John Jorgenson, steel guitarist Jay Dee Maness, bassist Bill Bryson, and drummer Steve Duncan. Their first single was a 1986 cover of Johnnie & Jack’s “Ashes of Love,” which climbed into the country Top 30. Their self-titled debut album followed in 1987 and spawned a number one hit in “He’s Back and I’m Blue,” plus two more Top Tens in “Love Reunited” and “One Step Forward.” 1988’s Running produced the number one smash “I Still Believe in You,” the number two “Summer Wind,” and the number three “She Don’t Love Nobody.” 1990’s Pages of Life brought their final Top Ten hits in “Story of Love” and “Start All Over Again.” Major personnel turnover followed; Maness was replaced by steel guitarist Tom Brumley, Jorgenson by guitarist Jeff Ross, and Duncan by drummer Tim Grogan. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Vern & Ray
“For many of us bluegrass pups on the West Coast in the early and mid 60’s, Vern and Ray were our connection to ‘the real thing’… we were pretty isolated out here. Vern and Ray were not only the genuine article and a source of inspiration, but were very supportive of the efforts of the local pickers to learn to play the music. We owe them a lot.” Butch Waller, keeper of the Monroe-style mandolin flame, and leader of California’s longest running bluegrass band “High Country”.
Herb Pederson, former Vern & Ray bandmember: “Vern & Ray’s music and style effected everybody on the West Coast who still plays bluegrass. I know personally, every time I sing certain lead lines, it’s because of Ray’s phrasing, and when I sing tenor, I think of how Vern might attack it. I was 20 when I started with them back in ’64, and they’re still teaching me things almost 40 years later.”
Herb Pedersen: banjo, vocals
David Nelson: guitar, vocals
Butch Waller: mandolin, vocals
plus
Ed Neff: fiddle
Steve Pottier: acoustic bass
Pine Valley Boys
THE PINE VALLEY BOYS, featuring recent high school graduates and good buddies Herb Pedersen and Butch Waller, plus David Nelson, were formed in 1963. David’s other band, The Wildwood Boys (with Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter), won the band contest at the Monterey Folk Festival the same year.
One of the first bluegrass bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Pine Valley Boys later relocated to the Los Angeles. The most tangible benefits of living in SoCal was Butch’s finding a Lloyd Loar mandolin and fiddler Richard Greene joining the band. They did tour extensively (even playing once at Carnegie Hall), but never recorded, and disbanded in early 1966.
2003 - THE PINE VALLEY BOYS, featuring recent high school graduates and good buddies Herb Pedersen and Butch Waller, plus David Nelson, were formed in 1963. David’s other band, The Wildwood Boys (with Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter), won the band contest at the Monterey Folk Festival the same year.
One of the first bluegrass bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Pine Valley Boys later relocated to the Los Angeles. The most tangible benefits of living in SoCal was Butch’s finding a Lloyd Loar mandolin and fiddler Richard Greene joining the band. They did tour extensively (even playing once at Carnegie Hall), but never recorded, and disbanded in early 1966.
The Pine Valley Boys had a significant impact on California bluegrass, and its three core members have enjoyed lengthy and distinguished musical careers. RBA was proud to sponsor their reunion two years ago, and everyone had so much fun — and sounded so good! — that we’re pleased to welcome them back.
After the Pine Valley Boys, HERB PEDERSEN played with Vern & Ray, then with the Dillards, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver, Emmylou Harris, Desert Rose, and on countless sessions. His songs have been recorded by many bands, most notably the Seldom Scene, and he has led The Laurel Canyon Ramblers for the past decade.
DAVID NELSON continued his musical partnership with Jerry Garcia in several bands, including The Black Mountain Boys, New Riders Of the Purple Sage, and The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. He now leads his own group, and still plays great bluegrass guitar with folks like Frank Wakefield and Sandy Rothman.
BUTCH WALLER formed High Country in 1968, and still leads this most enduring traditional bluegrass band in the west. He’s released a number of albums with them, plus his “solo” album, Golden Gate Promenade, which showcases the best Monrovian mandolin playing around, and includes collaborations with Herb, Steve, and Ed. Joining the original Pine Valley Boys are two musicians who played for over a decade with Butch in High Country, and who have made their own marks on West Coast bluegrass.
ED NEFF, called by Del McCoury “the best bluegrass fiddler in California,” was also a member of the Vern Williams Band, Done Gone, and the Rose Maddox Band. He’s currently in the western band, Lone Prairie, the traditional bluegrass band, True Blue, who have recently released their first album, and his own band, which plays every Thursday at Petaluma’s Willowbrook Ale House.
STEVE POTTIER is a highly-regarded multi-instrumentalist who also played bass and guitar with Done Gone, Sandy Rothman, and The Squids.He’s currently a member of the Earl Brothers, the Circle R Boys, and the Avocado Brothers, writes a column for “Flatpicking Guitar” magazine, and knows more about Clarence White’s music than anyone in North America.