Puddle City Bluegrass Band

PUDDLE CITY
Bluegrass Band

Puddle City at Reed College's St. George's Day celebration, probably April 23, 1970.

left to right: David Butts - guitar, Greg Booth - mandolin, Peter Langston - guitar, Chris Montague - banjo, & Diane Desbrisay - fiddle. Hidden in back: Gray Pederson - bass.

Puddle City was always known for its tasteful arrangements of little-known bluegrass gems.

In this early photograph the band is recreating its sensational death-defying triple-banjo rotating spectacle supersolo for an esoteric tune called Foggy Mountain Breakdown while fiddler Diane looks on in disbelief.
Triple banjo

left to right: parts of Greg Booth, Dave Butts, and Chris Montague, each playing half of two different banjos, a distant fan wondering what we're doing, Peter Langston playing guitar, Gray Pederson playing bass, & Diane Desbrisay trying to pretend she doesn't know us.

The original Puddle City business card

This card carries the image of one of two realistic paintings of the band created by a fan, Constance Earnshaw -- thanks, Connie! (Click on the card to see the original poster.)

Polishing Greg's Car

An early photo of the band posing on Greg's car.
left to right: David, Diane, Chris, Greg, Peter, Gray.

Puddle City in 1970

The band at a favorite Haunt -- Frankenstein's Tavern on Front Street in Portland;
left to right: Peter, Chris, Diane, David, & Greg.

Puddle City Posters in 1972

2/12/72	4/1/72
4/28/72	7/21/72
(Click on any poster to see a larger version.)

Puddle City Records

Puddle City released two 45-rpm records (singles) on the Cricket label. It's too bad the movie Deliverance didn't come out a bit earlier...

Puddle City with Washboard

Greg, Sharyle, and Peter jam with washboard player Billy Hults (between Greg and Sharyle with cigarette). Well, okay, so we were actually pretending not to notice Billy because we knew he'd get all the applause if he stuck around. You can hear him get all the applause on the CD of our Civic Auditorium set (on "Bye Bye Blues" -- see below).

Puddle City in 1972

The band in its 1972 form, top step to bottom: Chris Montague (with the banjo), Kishka (with the dog collar), Greg Booth (with the mandolin), Sharyle Patton (with the look), Tom Curry (with the fiddle), and Peter Langston (with the guitar).

I'm keeping my eye out for other bits and pieces left behind by the band.
If you have any Puddle City
Pictures
Posters
Sound samples
Anecdotes
let me know via e-mail.

A Puddle City CD?

While we're at it, I do have a recording of a Puddle City concert appearance (at the Portland Civic Auditorium in April, 1972).
If you would be interested in getting a CD copy of that concert, along with some other Puddle City material (various studio recordings, four 45-rpm single sides, and a recording of a KWJJ disk jockey playing a Puddle City acetate test pressing on the air -- 28 tracks in all, over 79 minutes long), send me e-mail and ask about CAT-106CD.

Rocky Run* · Little Maggie* · Fiddle Medley* · Bye Bye Blues* · Rocky Top* · Same Old Man Working At The Mill* · Blackberry Blossom* · Old Slewfoot* · I Don't Love Nobody* · The Cuckoo* · Black Mountain Rag* · Rocky Run (take 1) · Old Home Place · Blackberry Blossom · Duelin' Banjo · Take Five · Love Please Come Home · Mandolin King Rag · Kentucky Mandolin · Clinch Mountain Backstep · I've Just Seen A Fiddle Tune Medley · Alligator Man · Rocky Run (take 2) · Sailor's Hornpipe/Devil's Dream · I've Just Seen A Face · Love Please Come Home · Ghost Riders in the Sky · KWJJ aircheck of Rocky Run take 1.
Entries marked * were recorded live at the Portland Civic Auditorium in April, 1972.

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This page was last modified Tuesday, 20-May-2003 18:27:47 PDT. (Local Time is Tuesday, 19-Aug-2008 19:53:02 PDT.)