The Blue Mountain Band would not be possible without the diverse talented musicians that play the music . I am very blessed-Bob
Bob Stump
Artist, Musician, Songwriter, Entertainer.
Yours Truly
Roy Coates
Check out the nice inlay work on Roy's Guitar Done by the Martin Guitar custom shop
Roy Coates, bass and vocals, is originally from Smithfield, North Carolina. His family relocated to the Washington, DC suburbs in the 1960s where he continued his growing up listening to WDON, WAMU radio stations and going to the Red Fox Inn, Bethesda, Maryland, on most Thursday nights, to see and hear the original Seldom Scene. He is a graduate of Boston University and Western Connecticut State University and has taught and conducted music for many years in the public schools of New York State. Roy has also studied the five-string banjo with the legendary Bill Keith, who he names as a major musical influence. He also teaches guitar locally in addition to the many performing engagements he has with Bob Stump and other musical organizations in the Hudson Valley region of New York State.
Roy Coates, banjo, bass, Guitar , Mandolin, Educator, producer
Tom White Tom is an amazing multi talented musician playing fiddle ,mandolin, banjo, mountain dulcimer, hammer dulcimer, penny whistle and concertina not to mention guitar and other percussion folk instruments. Wow! He is demand for work shops and folk music seminars nation wide. Versed in Od Timey, Bluegrass, Celtic and other genre Tom has performed at many well known venues and music festivals. He owns and operates a recording studio in upstate NY and has played on and produced many albums for artists including The Blue Mountain Band.
Tom White
Andrew Bing Andrew Bing, dobro, mandolin and vocals, is an original member of the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association. He has studied dobro with Mike Auldridge of the Seldom Scene and was inspired to learn mandolin after seeing Jimmy Page play mandolin at a Led Zeppelin concert at Madison Square Garden in 1977. Andrew is a devotee of Bill Monroe and his music. In addition to Bill Monroe and Mike Auldridge his influences include Earl Scruggs and Bill Keith. When not performing Bluegrass, Andrew is an attorney for the State of New York based in Albany, NY.
Andy Bing
Gary DiGiovanni 5 string banjo , guitar, vocals A great Scruggs player always in the pocket driving Plays banjo for the dutchess county based band No Brakes The first music I ever heard was probably the sound of my mother's voice. She sang beautifully while she did the housework. I was encouraged to take trombone -- they had too many trumpet players in my school. I started also to learn ukulele, inspired by a carpenter named Ernie Rizzuto, who claimed to be a cousin of Phil. A hand injury at age nine kept me away from stringed instruments until my late teens, when I became inspired by the guitar and banjo playing of my best friend, Jack Wherrity. He allowed me convert one of his guitars (a Harmony Roy Smeck model) into a 7-string, which I played with a homemade slide made from the neck of a 7-Up bottle. At that time I was also playing a lot of blues harmonica, and I used to hang out at places in a sport jacket with five pockets and a Marine Band of a different key in each one. One day Jack played for me a recording from the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, which included the driving sound of Alan Shelton (with Jim and Jesse), and that put me over the top with the banjo -- I had to at least try to learn how to play like that. So Jack, in typical form, loaned me his banjo, which I used for about a year until I bought one. After about ten years, I started playing out. Since that time, I've played in a number of bands and have been with No Brakes since about 2001.
Gary with the 5 string
Bill Keith, five-string banjo, has been called the Father of Modern Bluegrass Banjo and is widely regarded as one of the masters of the instrument. He is a former “Bluegrass Boy” having performed with Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass and creator of the genre. He was co-writer of the Earl Scruggs banjo instruction book also known as “the Banjo Bible,” still the keystone manual of learning five-string banjo technique. Bill was a member of the Muleskinner Project which included Bluegrass legends David Grisman, Clarence White, Richard Greene, Peter Rowan and John Kahn. That ensemble is regarded as the first Bluegrass “Super Group.” Bill is in demand internationally as a presenter and performer at Bluegrass festivals and banjo gatherings. He is a legendary figure in the history of the Bluegrass .
Bill Keith
Evan Shultis, Fiddle
Evan started playing fiddle at age 9, and after taking his first lesson with Jay Unger & Molly Mason, developed his music career in Woodstock, New York. Usually found sporting a fedora, he is noted as being especially talented at harmony, improvisation and musical variety: ranging from Bluegrass & Old Time to Celtic, Swing & Americana. Evan enjoys putting a new spin on a song each time he plays it and his musical influences range from the legendary fiddle player Vassar Clemens to the Americana Swing style of The Wiyos. This wide spectrum gives him the inspiration to constantly explore new ways to carry out a tune. Evan currently performs in venues throughout the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley, and looks forward to collaborating on new musical projects to come.
