The Misty Mountaineers
R.I.P. Our dear Dotty Farrell
7-1-1951 10-10-2015
Dotty peacefully left us to join the Angel Band this past October. A beloved mom, sister, daughter, friend, wife and partner, she filled many roles in this life with grace, humor and style. She was to us much more than a bandmate; the consumate professional we all aspire to become, the smile that never left her face when she played, the one we all looked to for support when we needed it, our Muse of Muses, on stage and in life, she lives always in our hearts and through the Bluegrass music we'll keep on picking, the way she loved it best: Still on the Run, and .....Wakin' up the Babies!
I've been picking with the Mistys for a couple of years now, a really fun and talented group of friends. We've played festivals and concert venues all over Maine. We just finished a great week at the Blistered Fingers Festival in Litchfield. Coming up soon are White's Beach Bluegrass Fest and the County Festival in Fort Fairfield, a beautiful venue in Aroostook County, and we'll play several theaters and other venues too through fall.
Wilf Clark, the son of Yodelin' Slim Clark, started the band in 1975. He's had a great gang of pickers with him over the years, many of whom are prominent in the local bluegrass scene today.
Currently Andre Tardif plays banjo, guitar and sings all the parts, Wilf's on mandolin and lead vocals, Bernie Staples keeps a drivin' rhythm on the Santa Cruz guitar and sings lead and high tenor vocals and I'm on dobro and some baritone vocals. Dotty Farrell held it all together with her amazing bass lines for about fourteen years and now we have Kelly Burke on the big upright. Kelly is the natural successor to Dotty in every way, given their long term friendship and mutal passion for all things bass, Kelly's defacto manager-ship of the band (not to mention our household) since I started with the MM's in 2014 and her passion for the Mountaineers' unique bluegrass style. She's a past member of the Bits & Pieces Band, Cribstone Bridge and the Girl Brothers, all central Maine based bluegrass and Americana ensembles.
We're all looking forward to the upcoming festival season and beyond. Check out the Misty Mountaineers on Facebook where you'll find dozens of great photos, lots of band history, videos, and upcoming events. Leave us a message, let us know you're out there!
Cribstone Bridge
Here are some photos of my wife Kelly and me playing with "The 'Stoners", before we retired from that band. It was a geat run and we all had a blast.
Some shots from Ossipee 2012:
That's my bride Kelly on bass with CSB, and you might recognize the guy test driving a Burke rosewood/spruce.