Song Tree Concert – The Cache Valley Drifters perform to benefit Doctors without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine

The Cache Valley Drifters will perform in a Song Tree concert event for the benefit of Doctors without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine, on Saturday, February 9, 2019, 7:30 p.m. at the Live Oak UU Congregation.

The Cache Valley Drifters have been pushing the boundaries of American acoustic music for over four decades. Their sound is a blend of a wide range of musical styles and influences with a focus on vocals rich with harmony. Based solidly in bluegrass and folk, they create a collective alchemy of all the musical interests the individual members bring. The result: performances that cover a lot of musical territory while maintaining a common thread that can only be described as the “CVD style.”

Their shows are as likely to include modern bluegrass interpretations of songs by Greg Brown, Etta James and Woody Guthrie, as they are to feature traditional bluegrass tunes and songs by the late folk-singer Kate Wolf. They have shared concert and festival stages with artists including Doc and Merle Watson, the Del McCoury Band, Emmylou Harris, Newgrass Revival, Stephane Grappelli, David Grisman, Alison Krauss, Peter Rowan… and with artists you might not expect: The Allman Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat, Willie Nelson, and Ricky Nelson.

CVD’s LP The Cache Valley Drifters, was released in 1978; Step Up to Big Pay in 1980; and the live recording Tools of the Trade in 1981. After a hiatus from 1985 to 1992, in 1996 they released their first CD, White Room, which received airplay around the globe and led to their next CD, Mightyfine, featuring world-class fiddle and banjo player Dennis Caplinger. They toured in Europe, and Live In Germany (2012) documents a 1999 concert in Viersen, Germany, again with Caplinger. In 2000, the Grateful Dead picked their 1979 version of “Cumberland Blues” to be the first cut on Stolen Roses, a collection of the Dead’s favorite covers of their songs by other groups along with, among others, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and the Stanford Marching Band.

Bill Griffin (mandolin, guitar, and vocals) has been with CVD since 1973. He is an award-winning producer, a luthier, inventor of the Mandolele (nylon string mandolin), and has appeared on projects by many artists in folk, rock and Hawaiian music.

Wally Barnick (bass and vocals) played with CVD from 1975 to 1979, and rejoined the group in 1992. An excellent vocalist and bass player, Wally also spent two years with Bluegrass Etc. and is a featured vocalist on their award-winning album Home is Where the Heart Is.

Mike Mullins (guitar, mandolin, and vocals), CVD’s resident songwriter, joined the group in 1993. Mike has been featured at the Mandolin Symposium and his playing can be heard on many projects dating back to his tenure in both the Phil Salazar Band and the Acousticats. His solo project, Windows of Time, was released in 2014.

The profits from this Song Tree concert will be donated to Doctors without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine. DWW-SBSM is dedicated to providing free, volunteer medical care for the most vulnerable of Santa Barbara County, when and where they are in need, including in times of disaster, and to provide education and training for DWW-SBSM volunteers and others, in order to promote the excellent practice of humanitarian medicine in our hometown and elsewhere.

Admission is $15. All profits will be donated to DWW-SBSM. Tickets are available for purchase online: Click here for tickets. Capacity allowing, tickets will be available at the door.

This Song Tree concert is sponsored by the Social Justice Ministry of the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

 Information is available by phone at (805) 403-2639.