Ed Neff, Petaluma’s father of bluegrass

During what Ed Neff calls “the hootenanny era,” of the 1960s, he became enamored with folk music, joining a folk club in high school, listening to and learning from records.

It was through the club he met bluegrass and old-time music players and proceeded to “drop folk overnight,” he said.

“I was absolutely crazy about bluegrass music,” the Petaluma resident said.

In keeping with his passion, Neff has been playing bluegrass since 1966, including the past 36 years in Petaluma. His performances at Willowbrook Ale House on Thursday nights is the longest running weekly gig in Northern California, approaching 20 consecutive years – “20 to life” he said, laughing.

Born in 1946 in St. Louis, the bluegrass enthusiast’s musical education began at age 7 through the influence of his mother, who enjoyed music, often singing and whistling around the house. She urged him to learn piano and then flute, and he started playing in the school band.

In eighth grade, Neff played piano with the Rocketeers, a rock ‘n’ roll band he described as “a disaster, pretty laughable,” with “a tone-deaf guitar player.” Neff recalled being quiet and introverted, making his first few years onstage difficult, though he said that experience helped him overcome this shyness.

His family moved to Lake Elsinore, in California’s high desert, in 1961, for the better weather and a different job for his father. There, he continued in the high school band, and took up fiddle and mandolin in his final year.

After moving to San Francisco in 1967, Neff played at Paul’s Saloon, a venue he describes as “the bluegrass hangout, a real institution,” sometimes performing two or three nights a week.

Neff refers to himself as a “utility infielder,” due to his ability to fill in on several instruments when jobs were hard to find. During that time, he played with his first band, Styx River Ferry, at Mooney’s Irish Pub in North Beach, then met Butch Waller who invited him to join the band High Country, a prominent traditional bluegrass band.

He defines traditional bluegrass as “melodically-based,” emanating from mandolinist Bill Monroe, who he called “the father of bluegrass.” Monroe melded many elements including “country blues, black blues, white and black gospel, and Scottish/Irish fiddle tunes,” Neff said.

“When he plays the melody, it’s like an impressionistic painting where he gives you a certain amount of information and your mind fills in the rest,” he said.

Neff referred to the early days of bluegrass as “stories about things that had happened, ways of keeping track of events.” Many songs are about love lost, and longing for home. Since they weren’t written down, Neff, and other students of the style, listened to recordings, sometimes slowing down the songs to get the exact notes, nuances and details.

At a time when he was focused on the fiddle, Neff became a member of the Vern Williams Band, a well-known West Coast group, from 1980-95. They backed up Rose Maddox, a regular Grand Ole Opry singer, for several years in the mid-’80s.

Now, his various musical conglomerations are Blue & Lonesome, Ed Neff & Friends, and the New Carolina Special. These bands perform at several venues, as well as festivals, wineries, and parties.

The core band is Blue & Lonesome, with Neff on mandolin, Larry Cohea on banjo, Yoseff Tucker on guitar, Katya Polovina on bass, and Paul Shelasky on fiddle. All share in vocalizing, and the band becomes Ed Neff & Friends when there are additions or substitutions.

Neff’s primary instruments are mandolin and fiddle, but he’s also proficient on guitar and bass and sings frequently. Mandolin, he said, is his favorite now because, unlike fiddle, “it’s a good instrument to sing off of and it’s a good rhythm instrument.”

Discussing the popularity of bluegrass among young people, Neff said, “it comes and goes.” He prefers the more traditionally-oriented among newer bands.

“It’s such a well-formed music that it’s hard to change it to any positive effect. There’s a certain framework and structure that’s hard to modernize, though people’s musicianship has come further. There is room for your own personality, different ways of playing the melody. We put our own spin on it, while keeping as close as we can to the tradition of playing the melody.”

For Neff, music is a lifelong passion.

“It is my profession and I enjoy the lifetime journey of learning this art form,” he said.

For more information, visit edneff.com

(Contact Robert Feuer at argus@aruscourier.com)