Though the East End of Long Island is certainly not known as a hotbed of bluegrass music, for the past several years, the Shelter Island Recreation Department has created something of a grassroots bluegrass scene by sponsoring an annual concert in January featuring some of the hottest folk music bands in the business today.
This year is no exception.
On Saturday, January 16, the Steep Canyon Rangers, a five piece band out of Asheville, North Carolina take the stage at Shelter Island School for a 7:30 p.m. concert. This is the first time the Steep Canyon Rangers, or simply the Rangers as they are known, have played the East End. Despite national acclaim, several original albums (the latest, “Deep In The Shade” came out in October) and a hectic touring schedule, this is a band that was born 10 years ago not through music, but rather friendship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Three of us were students — the bass player Charlie [Humphrey III], the banjo player Graham [Sharp], and myself,” explains Woody Platt, guitarist and lead vocalist for the Rangers. “We met as freshmen and developed a friendship before we were into music.”
While Platt played casually as a college student, he was no where near the point that he might have considered a career as a musician.
“I had always liked to play a few chords on guitar and sing songs,” says Platt. “Our banjo player was a sax player who got interested in banjo in college and the bass player played a bit in high school. They both got me into it. The whole band thing didn’t happen until our senior year. We went to bars to play. We weren’t that good, but had lots of friends.”
“The music came out of the friendship,” adds Platt. “None of us were music majors, it was just a hobby. We graduated, not with music degrees, but in history, international studies and I was interdisciplinary studies. We were having so much fun.”
Though they stuck it out and got those college degrees, the founding members of Steep Canyon Rangers have been so successful with their music they haven’t had to put them to much use in the years since graduation — unless you consider international studies handy for a bluegrass group on tour, say, in Germany with comedian Steve Martin. And that’s exactly what happened last summer when the Rangers spent seven weeks on tour in Europe with Martin, who is, himself, a banjo aficionado and talented player. They also performed with him at Carnegie Hall and on the David Letterman Show. Platt recalls how casually the initial hook-up with Martin came about.
“That was cool, and a random thing,” explains Platt, whose brother happens to be friends with Martin’s wife. “They came to the North Carolina mountains for vacation and they invited me and a couple guys over just to play. We had a great little informal jam and dinner. Then we hosted a bluegrass festival in Brevard and invited Steve Martin to be a surprise guest and it grew from there. We played Joe’s Pub in New York and Martin joined us there and when he went on tour, he invited us along.”
As a group, they’ve been at it for 10 years now and in addition to the three founding members, Steep Canyon Rangers includes mandolin player Mike Guggino and Nicky Sanders on fiddle. The band now plays 130 shows a year and they have come quite a long way since those college days. Though his mother was a fan of Doc Watson and Bob Dylan, Platt admits he never paid much attention to bluegrass or folk music as a kid. He notes that there was a steep learning curve when the founding members graduated from UNC in 1999 and made the leap from life as students to that of professional musicians. Even though they had just graduated, all three had to go back and do their bluegrass homework.
“We had bluegrass instruments but not a repertoire, so we went back and were getting into the genre,” says Platt. “So many of the songs and history are from the area that we stayed there and learned it well, and then started writing our own songs.”
“As a musical form, bluegrass really didn’t take hold until the 1940s,” explains Platt. “Ralph Rinzler was the music historian that really went back in the folk revival and got Bill Monroe and Doc Watson recorded and out there to help the popularity.”
“We’re a continuation of that,” adds Platt. “I felt our generation got into it. The wave started to slowly build and it’s been kind of like we’re in the right place at the right time. We’ve also been unique enough to be our own band.”
Unlike many bluegrass bands, the Steep Canyon Rangers don’t do the classics, but instead perform their own repertoire of original songs.
“We’ve been interested in writing since the beginning,” says Platt. “The songs on all our records are mostly original. At bluegrass festivals, the challenge is that people want to hear the old songs, but they’ve caught on.”
Platt adds that everyone in the band writes as well as plays, and when one member brings a new song to the group, it’s finessed through a series of efforts to build on a chord or melody in a truly collaborative effort.
“That slows us down in the process, but it gives us a unique sound,” says Platt. “Most of the time, the songwriter’s excited because everyone else is excited. There’s very little attitude about this.”
Over the years, Platt notes that the band has matured in the themes and topics that are explored in its songs.
“In the beginning we did all love songs,” recalls Platt. “Then I think we went into the classic themes. On our recent record, we brought in the current state of the world and personal situations. As we grow and record more, it’s really going to be topics relevant to a person in the band or the world at the time.”
“It gets old to sing something if you don’t know what it’s all about — like moon shining or murdering someone,” he adds. “I want the songs to have meaning and relevance.”
Relevance is something that the Steep Canyon Rangers obviously have obtained over the years. Bookings have taken them around the country and across an ocean, and this weekend, bring them to the East End. When asked if he notices regional differences in audiences in various parts of the country, Platt says, “There are so many bluegrass festivals in the south, and audiences are typically a little older. Sometimes it seems it’s taken for granted. The people who have chairs in the front row don’t show up until later in the night.”
“Out west it’s like we’re the most traditional band, there’s a more modern approach to bluegrass,” says Platt. “But we’ve really fallen in love with the Northeast. The audiences are amazing and there’s more of a youthful fresh energy.”
“The good thing is there are bluegrass fans everywhere,” he adds.
The Steep Canyon Rangers perform at 7:30 p.m. on January 16 at Shelter Island School auditorium, Route 114. Tickets are $20 to $30 and available by calling 749-0978. They can also be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/89822.
Top: Steep Canyon Rangers: Charles R. Humprhey III, Mike Guggino, Woody Platt, Nicky Sanders and Graham Sharp.
