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Virtuosic instrumentation and ultra-smooth vocal harmonies have made the
Laurel Canyon Ramblers one of the most successful groups performing tradition-rooted bluegrass. Led by banjo, guitar, and dobro player and vocalist
Herb Pederson, the
Laurel Canyon Ramblers represent over 100 years of bluegrass experience.
The
Laurel Canyon Ramblers, named after a street in Los Angeles that crosses Hollywood Boulevard, were brought together when Pederson returned to bluegrass in 1994. The son of a policeman who was born in 1944 and raised in Berkeley, CA, Pederson had filled in for an ailing
Earl Scruggs in the mid-'60s and had replaced influential banjoist
Doug Dillard in the
Dillards in 1968. Since leaving the
Dillards in 1971, Pederson had recorded three solo albums, been a founding member of
Country Gazette, and played on recordings by such artists as
Linda Ronstadt,
John Denver,
Jerry Garcia,
David Grisman, and
Diana Ross. Together with
Chris Hillman (
the Byrds,
the Flying Burrito Brothers), Pederson has recorded six albums with California country-rock band
Desert Rose, and a duo tribute album to the early-'60s sounds of
Buck Owens-style country music,
Bakersfield Bound, in 1996. In addition to writing such standard bluegrass tunes as "Old Train" and "Wait a Minute," Pederson contributed to the soundtracks of films and television shows including
Smokey & the Bandit,
City Slickers,
Maverick,
The Fire Down Below, The A Team, The Rockford Files, and
The Dukes of Hazzard.
The remaining members of the
Laurel Canyon Ramblers have résumés nearly as impressive. Mandolin player and vocalist
Kenny Blackwell, who studied with the late
Jethro Burns, was a member of
Richard Greene's The Grass Is Greener. Guitarist and vocalist
Richard Reed, a former member of
Byron Berline's Fiddle Band and Sundance, recorded with
Earl Scruggs,
Tony Trischka, and with his brothers,
Dennis,
Terry and
Ronnie. Fiddler
Gabe Witcher continues to be a longtime member of a family group, the Witcher Brothers. The Academy of Country Music's Bass Player of the Year in 1990,
Bill Bryson was a member of
Desert Rose,
Country Gazette, and the
Bluegrass Cardinals, and toured with
Dan Fogelberg and the
Doug Dillard Band. A talented songwriter,
Bryson wrote several tunes for the
Bluegrass Cardinals including "Riding on the L & N" and "Girl at the Crossroads," which was also covered by
Larry Sparks and
Jerry Garcia. The Ramblers reconvened in 1998 for Back on the Street Again. ~ Craig Harris