The Stanleytones 
Traditional Bluegrass Reminicent of the 1960's Grand Old Opry
Contact Information:
- Jim Bertolin
- 11965 Wasatch Rd.
- Longmont CO 80504
- 303-776-2508
- mobile: 303-257-2177
- E-mail: banjojim915@msn.com
Members of the Stanleytones as of October, 2007:
- Jim Bertolin - banjo, dobro
- Darrel Cox - mandolin
- Nate Lee - fiddle
- Luke Eisenhauer - bass
- Jamie Davis - guitar
Profile by Kathy Foster-Patton, from Pow'r
Pickin', Jan, 2007
The Stanleytones separately consist of a painter, a teacher, a banker,
an operations manager, and a music teacher. Put them together on a musical
stage and they constitute a popular regional bluegrass band, playing
throughout the Denver/Boulder area and around the state. They recently
took time out from a weekly practice in Lyons to play with their mando
player’s dogs and share their musical philosophies and goals for
the band.
Founder Jim Bertolin explained the origin of the band name. “It
kind of came from the Stanley Brothers and one time somebody said we
had a Stanley tone to the music so that’s where we picked up the
name. We just didn’t want to be like the Foggy Mountain boys or
the such and such string band.” He grinned, “You know, everybody
asks which one of us is Stanley.” Bertolin plays the banjo and
the dobro. He is joined by guitarist Burton McKenzie, mandolinist Bryan
Clendenin, Ryan Drickey on fiddle and bassist Luke Eisenhauer. In a
rare display of versatility, each of them sings.
The band members took turns describing the music that they play. McKenzie
explained, “it’s original and traditional bluegrass at its
best.” Bertolin chimed in with “hard-driving” and
Drickey added, “old school.” Clendenin elaborated. “We’re
trying to get a traditional sound. At the same time, with the work that
I write, I try to make it sound old—something new but with an
old traditional sound.” Bertolin filled in, “We’re
trying to play original songs, not just play covers.” Drickey
explained how their music has evolved over the past several years. “I’d
say that we used to do mostly old school bluegrass. Lately we’ve
been doing some original stuff, some swingy stuff and some more kind
of old time influenced tunes, like a lot of Brian’s originals.”
The Stanleytones have been influenced by a myriad of musical performers
and styles. McKenzie described the inputs to his own sound as ‘newgrass.’
“Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, those type of guys. I’m a relative
newcomer to bluegrass. I didn’t grow up listening to Bill Monroe
and stuff like that.” Bertolin chimed in, “I liked Ralph
Stanley from the 70’s, he had a really good band, with Ricky Skaggs,
Keith Whitley, and Curley Ray Klein. Later on I liked Jimmy Martin,
because he was kind of like the rebel. I liked Monroe because he bridges
that gap from the old time into the bluegrass realm. He definitely had
that old time influence and old time feel—he felt all of the notes.”
Clendenin gave the nod to Bill Monroe, Mike Compton, David Grisman and
Mike Marshall. “I really respect their playing—don’t
understand it sometimes. Even the whole slam grass, all that newgrass
stuff—that’s really what got me into listening to bluegrass;
I just went further back with it to figure out where it came from.”
Drickey summed up for the group. “I think what makes it interesting
is that we all have very different influences. I’m very influenced
by jazz and classical music and world music. It’s very diverse.”
Bertolin estimated that as much as half of the music they play is
original, written by himself or Clenendin, who has been writing songs
for two to three years. The mandolinist acknowledged that Bertolin has
provided guidance along the way. “Well, his playing definitely
does. Sometimes when I get a song down, Jim and I will work it out together,
so he can play guitar and hear that or figure it out on the banjo or
dobro. Songwriting always seemed tricky to me until a few years ago
when I started playing with these guys.”
Bertolin shared the group’s plan to record a new CD. “We’re
going to start probably right after Thanksgiving. We’re kind of
getting stuff together that we want to do and we’ll start working
with a couple of songs. This time we’re going to do all either
public domain or original songs.” Clenendin added, “We’re
going to do some original songs, some old time, some rare fiddle music.
Jim plays clawhammer and we will kind of focus around that. With Jim’s
dobro style, we can do some honky tonk or old country.” Bertolin
expanded. “We’ll do some old time—in old time everybody
plays at the same time. We do that too, but we try to do feature breaks,
that makes it a little bit different than standard old time, so I guess
that’s a bluegrass influence on the music.”
Each member had different starts into music. McKenzie’s father
gave him a guitar when he was a senior in high school in Tennessee.
“I was playing rock and roll and blues and Eric Clapton, learning
my solos, scales, and pretty much taught myself. Then I went to San
Francisco and started listening to bluegrass with some friends and started
playing a little bit. Then I moved to Boulder and went to Rocky Grass
and Telluride that summer and I’m like this is it.” Clenendin
got his start into music from traveling around the country and listening
to various bands. “I got a guitar and all my friends got guitars—and
four guitars sitting around the room got a little old. I heard a band
called ‘Old and In the Way’ with David Grisman and the mandolin
just stuck out as one of the main instruments in the band. So I got
started listening to that and I read some interview with David Grisman
about how he admired Bill Monroe’s playing and wanted to play
like that before he started his own style of music. And that kind of
got me back to the roots of where the music came from.”
Bertolin shared a little known secret about his musical roots. “I
didn’t play any music until I was about 16. Yeah, I started playing
harmonica and I listened to a lot of electric music in high school.
When Cream broke up there was nothing else to listen to, so I started
listening to Flatt and Scruggs. And I listened to Johnny Cash, too.
One thing I’ve noticed between the 70’s and bluegrass today,
is that in the 70’s when the festivals were just getting started
everything was very regional. You could tell Ralph Stanley, you could
tell Jim and Jesse, Jimmie Martin, Bill Monroe, JD Crowe. They all had
a really distinct sound. Now because there’s so much CD work,
everything’s starting to blend too much for my tastes. Guitar
players are all trying to sound like Tony Rice. Banjo players are all
trying to sound like Bela Fleck. Fiddle players all try to sound like
Jason Carter. Before, Norman Blake would stand out...Doc Watson would
stand out. Clarence White—they all had very distinctive sounds.
Now it’s just really blending together—the whole overall
sound. The harmonies and everything just blend to me. I mean there’s
really good players, I’m not faulting. I just don’t see
that regional influence that there used to be.”
Eisenhauer picked up a bass at a jam only two and a half years ago.
“I’d only played an upright previously two or three times—I
went to Oberlin College in Ohio and I’d sneak into their instrument
storage room cause they had one of their $20,000 basses and I’d
play rock and roll and whatever came into my head. It wasn’t until
I was out here and picked it up at a jam one night and at the end of
the evening got asked to start a band and off it went.”
The goals of the band are fairly short-term. Bertolin described, “In
the summertime trying to play some festivals. I’d really like
to get some winter time work, cause things are kind of slow in the winter,
so it’d be nice to book some stuff up and down the front range
in the winter, say every other month. As far as the music goes, we want
to get the best product out there that we can get, get another CD done,
and just have fun playing.” Clenendin added, “We keep talking
about doing a band competition at a festival but we never seem to bring
it together.” Bertolin shook his head. “It ruins your festival!
Cause then you can’t stay up late cause you’re worried about
the competition the next day....” His band mates erupted with
laughter.
The musicians were eager to describe the instruments that they play
in the band. Bertolin is right proud of a 1954 banjo which he bought
for $350 in the 1970’s. “It was during that time when Gibson
was making banjos out of guitar parts. It had fat guitar frets and bowtie
inlays that were really ugly and a guitar peg head. I never liked the
neck, so I had a Gibson neck made and I paid a little extra to have
the Gibson logo put on it. The resonator of the banjo is solid with
autographs, with Bill, Lester, Earl, all the big names. I’ve since
had another resonator made, because I don’t like to take the signed
one out due to its value. I have another banjo that is a custom made
archtop made by Ome Banjo.” Eisenhauer plays a 1996 Englehardt
bass that he bought from a friend. Drickey’s fiddle was made in
Chicago in 1990 by a Polish builder. McKenzie’s Martin D-28 style
guitar was a birthday present in 2002, while Clendenin plays a 2004
F-9 Gibson mandolin, which he prefers for its heavy chop.
Like many bands, the members of the Stanleytones see their greatest
challenge around scheduling. Eisenhauer explained. “Putting the
time in that this band is worth to be one of the premier ones in the
area, amidst all of our other schedules, we’ve all got other lives
going on. To bring in original material and really take it to the next
level is definitely one challenge.” Bertolin followed up, “We
do practice regularly which is really good. That’s pretty important.
The biggest challenge and frustration is when we practice regularly
but not all of us can make all of the jobs, so we end up bringing up
substitutes. So getting us all together is the biggest challenge.”
Like many bands, this lineup of musicians is not the original one,
but the second iteration of the Stanleytones. Bertolin is the only original
member. When asked if this group of guys will last for the long term,
he thought for a moment. “That’s a tough one to say. I don’t
know. I like it. I think it’s a pretty good mix. It’s working
out a pretty good sound. We all seem to get along pretty well.”
The Stanleytones [kicked] off the CBMS Altona Grange Bluegrass Hoedown
Series on Jan 13 [2007]....
|
