Alan Munde | |
|---|---|
 Larry Long, Alan Munde and Fiddlin' Pete Watercott in 1988 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 4, 1946 |
| Origin | Norman, Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | Bluegrass |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Banjo, Acoustic Guitar |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
Alan Munde (pronounced "mun-dee") (born November 4, 1946) is an American five-string banjo player and bluegrass musician. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2024. [1]
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Munde learned banjo from a well-regarded Oklahoman banjo player, Ed Shelton. He frequently played amateur gigs around the state where he first met Byron Berline at the University of Oklahoma. Shelton introduced Munde to three Dallas bluegrass players: Mitchell Land, Louis "Bosco" Land and Harless "Tootie" Williams. The four of them joined to form The Stone Mountain Boys in 1965. Munde moved to Kentucky in January 1969 after he had graduated from college to play with Wayne Stewart and Sam Bush in a group called Poor Richard's Almanac.
Wayne Stewart had this idea for a group with this kid he knew in Kentucky named Sam Bush, who was probably 15. So I moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and we formed Poor Richard's Almanac. Not long after, I got my draft notice, but before I left, Sam, Wayne and I made this tape, later released by Ridge Runner Records, called Poor Richard's Almanac, that was a lot of the instrumental things we were doing. I then went back to Oklahoma, was rejected by the Army, and worked in Norman that summer.
— Pamm Tucker, Bluegrass Today, October 28, 2022 [2]
For this first album, Muleskinner News reviewer Bill Vernon observed that Alan Munde: puts his accomplished technique and wealth of ideas to full use
[3] . On the biographical web page of the Steve Martin banjo price of 2021, attributed to Alan Munde this first Album is described as legendary and groundbreaking
[4] .
At the time, Jimmy Martin was looking for a banjo player. Doyle Lawson, his mandolinist, had been very impressed by Alan Munde's banjo work. Doyle Lawson asked him to play with Jimmy Martin. But Jimmy Martin, who had heard him play, said it didn't match the style he was looking for (that of J. D. Crowe). Doyle Lawson replied no, but he can
[5] . Munde joined the Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys and played with this backing band from October 1969 to October 1971. He recorded thirteen tracks, for three different albums. Alan Munde completely changed his style of banjo playing to fit the Martin sound
[6] . He remembered: when I worked with Jimmy, I was encouraged to play like J.D. (..) I loved that; never had any problem with that - I wanted to sound like too.
[7] . But that didn't stop him from developing his own highly musical and influential version of a melodic style
[7] . In the meantime he earned his living by working as a school teacher in Nashville.
In 1972, Munde became a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, performing again with Byron Berline, for an European tour; in England, Holland and Denmark. The Amsterdam concert at the Concertgebouw in March was recorded in its entirety. In 1973 Ariola released a double LP setLive In Amsterdam containing most of the show [8] . After this European tour, the Burritos split up and Alan Munde (banjo), Byron Berline (fiddle, mandolin), Kenny Wertz (guitar) and Roger Bush (bass) formed the Country Gazette. The group spent the summer of 1972 performing at Disneyland and in the fall, Country Gazette went on to record their first album Traitor In Our Midst [3] .
According to Gary Reid [3] , the Bluegrass Unlimited reviewer Walt Saunders described this record as some of the best bluegrass music ever recorded by a West Coast band
and rated Alan Munde's banjo work as easily his best to date, and he seems musically much more at home with this group
[9] . The release of the album was followed with a promotional tour around the States, early in 1973.
Around the same time, Roland White left Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass and reunited with his brothers, Clarence and Eric, formed the White brothers, also known as the New Kentucky Colonel. At the end of May 1973, Alan Munde replaced Herb Pedersen on the banjo for a gig with the New Kentucky Colonels at the Mosebacke club, Stockholm May 28-29, 1973 [10] .
The Gazette’s second album, “Don’t Give Up Your Day Job,” was recorded in the summer of 1973. In July, Kenny Wertz left the group and was replaced by Roland White, who became available following the tragic death of his brother Clarence in July 1973. In September, The Country Gazette with Roland White returned to Europe for a third tour. In 1974, Berline also left the group, to create Sundance. Later, Kenny Wertz returned on vocals and guitar, and Roland White switched to mandolin. The Country Gazette toured again in Europe: Holland, England and at festivals in Switzerland and the south of France (Cazals), in summer 1975 [11] . This line-up (Alan Munde on banjo, Kenny Wertz on guitar, Roland White on mandolin and Roger Bush on bass) recorded the 1976 album Out to Lunch for Flying Fish, with fiddler Dave Ferguson and Al Perkins on pedal steel as guests.
For the next twenty years Munde remained a central figure in Country Gazette, playing with others notable musicians such as Sam Bush, Slim Richey, Joe Carr and Gene Wooten.
In 1977, Munde and mandolinist Sam Bush recorded Together Again for the First Time with Roland White, Curtis Burch and John Cowan (both members of New Grass Revival with Bush).
Munde has served on the board of directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association. [12] He taught full-time in the bluegrass and country music program at South Plains College from 1986 to May 2007. [13]
Munde wrote and hosted a monthly five-string banjo column for Frets Magazine during the 1980s.
His current[ when? ] band is called Alan Munde Gazette. The band features Munde on banjo, Elliott Rogers on guitar and vocals, Bill Honker on bass and vocals, Steve Smith on mandolin and vocals, and Nate Lee on fiddle vocals.
In 2021, Alan won the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. [14]
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