Wednesday, april 22, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 1 1
Bluegrass band gains local audience;
plans further developments in style
By Pat Higgins
Cold Spring is a four-piece bluegrass band based in
Lincoln that has been playing the bar circuit for the last
year. The members include Mike Butts on banjo, Gary
Paul on bass, Marty Coniglio on mandolin and Mike Keefe
on guitar.
"Cold Spring started out as a full-time group last 4th of
July at the Brownville festival, where we did well in the
competition they were, having," said Keefe. "But for
a couple of years prior to that we had basically the same
people playing together trying to form a band."
profile
Cold Spring credits the development of a strong local
scene in Lincoln for its growth.
"There are six or seven really good bluegrass bands in
town but unfortunately there are not enough places to
play," Keefe said. "Probably the best for us is Bob's
Tavern in Havelock where we spent last weekend. The
crowd there already seems to get drunk, loud, and obnoxi
ous, especially when Marty starts telling Havelock jokes.
"The last few months we were playing a lot of
different places around the state but out there they'didn't
seem as receptive as people are in Lincoln," he said. "We
would be more interested in playing more parties and at
informal gatherings rather than strictly at bars, maybe bar
mitzvahs or rodeos."
Movie benefits
The Urban Cowboy movie and attendant media cover
age have worked to the benefit of some groups.
"I think all that Urban Cowboy proved was that they
knew how to use advertising," Keefe said. "The only
fringe benefit for us is that people who like country
would become interested in bluegrass because they are
directly related. If you can dance to country swing, blue
grass is easy."
Both Keefe's and Paul's brothers are members of area
bluegrass hotshots the Sandy Creek Pickers, and Keefe
credits them for inspiration.
"1 was tired of what was new in rock and roll, although
lately I've been getting into the Clash," he said, "so I
started listening to the acoustic stuff that Steven Hanson
and my brother were doing. I like bluegrass because it is
deliberately noncommercial You'll never 'hear 'it on the
radio."
Bluegrass can trace its roots back a considerable dist
ance. "Bill Monroe is usually given credit for putting to
gether modern bluegrass," Keefe said. "He took elements
of Irish and Scottish fiddle tunes, gospel and blues and
put it together. The instrumentation is so unique because
the mandolin is used as a rhythm instrument."
Evolving style
Cold Spring plans on an evolution in style. "All four
members of the band would like to be moving in the same
musical direction," Keefe said. "We would like to be
doing songs along the lines of the Newgrass Revival, who
, 12th and St. 477-1234 ,
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are a really interesting group as they almost sound like a
rock band at times. Maybe we would also throw in some
originals or Fugs material. Marty has been writing few
tunes."
Cold Spring has picked some classic American themes
for inspiration.
"We like to do train songs, truck driving songs, instru
mental and songs to plant gardens by," Keefe said. "We
try to emphasize our harmony singing more than anything
else. Wc also may go for a little more variety and perhaps
use electric bass or guitar for some country numbers. I'm
also interested in Tex-Mex like the Sir Douglas Quintet."
Cold Spring has some interesting ambitions for the
future.
"We have no plans for recording an album " Keefe
said, "but we would like to send a tape along on the next
space shuttle flight."
Ready for
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