Alan Munde | |
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 Larry Long, Alan Munde and Fiddlin' Pete Watercott in 1988 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 4, 1946 |
| Origin | Norman, Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | Bluegrass |
| Occupation(s) | 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.
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 [1]
Munde joined with bluegrass musician Jimmy Martin in 1969. He played with Martin as one of the Sunny Mountain Boys from October 1969 to October 1971, and in the meantime earned his living by working as a school teacher in Nashville.
In 1972, Munde became a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, performing with Byron Berline. After a European tour, the Burritos split up and Munde joined Country Gazette, then consisting of Roger Bush on bass, Kenny Wertz on guitar, and on the fiddle, Byron Berline, who had formed Country Gazette earlier in the year. Country Gazette went on to record their first album Traitor In Our Midst in 1972. For the next twenty years Munde remained a central figure in Country Gazette, playing with notable musicians such as Roland White, Clarence White, 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. [2] He taught full-time in the bluegrass and country music program at South Plains College from 1986 to May 2007. [3]
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. [4]
Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.
James Dee Crowe was an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four-year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s. Crowe led the bluegrass group New South from 1971 until his death in 2021.
Byron Douglas Berline was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock.
Too Late to Turn Back Now is the title of a 1977 album by the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival on the Flying Fish label. It was their first live album, and was recorded at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
Last of the Red Hot Burritos is the fourth album by country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers, released in 1972. By the time this album was recorded, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow and Bernie Leadon had left the band, leaving Chris Hillman as the sole founding member. In their places, Hillman recruited Al Perkins and Kenny Wertz respectively. Wertz had previously played with Hillman in the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. The band also added two guest musicians for their fall 1971 tour in Byron Berline and Roger Bush from Country Gazette. This lineup toured until Hillman left the band in October 1971, leaving the rights to the band's name to Rick Roberts. Once Hillman departed, A&M Records apparently lost faith in the group. Instead of allowing a Roberts-led version of the band to record a new studio album, A&M released this live recording. It fulfilled the band's contract, but it was subsequently dropped from the label.
Dillard & Clark was a country rock collaboration between ex-Byrds member Gene Clark and bluegrass banjo player Doug Dillard.
Roland Joseph White was an American bluegrass music artist, performing principally on the mandolin. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
The Kentucky Colonels were a bluegrass band that was popular during the American folk music revival of the early 1960s. Formed in Burbank, California in 1954, the group released two albums, The New Sound of Bluegrass America (1963) and Appalachian Swing! (1964). The band featured the influential bluegrass guitarist Clarence White, who was largely responsible for making the acoustic guitar a lead instrument within bluegrass, and who later went on to join the Los Angeles rock band the Byrds. The Kentucky Colonels disbanded in late 1965, with two short-lived reunions taking place in 1966 and 1973.
The Lilly Brothers, were bluegrass musicians born in Clear Creek, West Virginia. They have been credited with bringing bluegrass to New England and with influencing such future bluegrass artists as Peter Rowan, Joe Val and Bill Keith, among others.
The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers were a San Diego-based bluegrass group best known as the band that launched the careers of founding Byrds' member, Chris Hillman and founding Eagles' guitarist-songwriter, Bernie Leadon. The lineup included Hillman on mandolin, future Hearts & Flowers member Larry Murray on Dobro, Ed Douglas on stand-up bass, Gary Carr on guitar, and future Flying Burrito Brothers and Country Gazette member, Kenny Wertz on banjo. Leadon would replace Wertz on banjo when he left the group to join the Air Force in 1963.
Joseph Allen Carr was an American country and roots musician, author, and professor originally from Denton, Texas. Self-taught, he began playing first folk music and later old-time and bluegrass music on guitar at age 13 and mandolin at age 15. After performing with local Texas bands Roanoke in the 1970s and Country Gazette in the 1970s and 80s, Carr formed a "Bob Wills style" Western swing band, Joe Carr & the Texas Lone Star Band, in 1987. Beginning in 1984, he taught at the commercial music program at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, For the last several years of his life, he was in charge of the bluegrass and Western swing departments at the college and was the director of Camp Bluegrass held there annually
David Michael Richey, known professionally as Slim Richey, was an American jazz guitarist, fiddle player, bandleader, and publisher.
Doug Dillard is an American bluegrass banjo player. In addition to his solo albums and recordings with the Dillards and Dillard & Clark, he has been featured as a performer and composer on numerous albums by other artists.
Country Gazette was an American country rock and progressive bluegrass band, formed in 1971 by Byron Berline and Roger Bush. They played traditional bluegrass and contemporary songs on acoustic instruments.
David Grier is an American guitarist. In addition to his solo albums and recordings with Psychograss, Richard Greene and The Grass Is Greener, and with Todd Phillips and Matt Flinner, he has been featured as a performer on many albums by other artists.
Roger Bush is an American bassist and guitarist.
William G. Evans is an American musician, author, and instructor noted for his banjo proficiency and knowledge of the history of the instrument.
Ridge Runner Records was a record label based in Fort Worth, Texas, specializing in acoustic music from Texas and Oklahoma. Ridge Runner was one of the first labels to release and market bluegrass music in the southwestern U.S.
Marshall Wilborn is an American bluegrass music bass player and composer best known for his work with the Johnson Mountain Boys, Longview, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, and the Lynn Morris Band.
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