Roland White

[Rick Schmidlin]

I have been working with the Roland White book and find it outstanding.As for his place in Mandolin Bluegrass history what is his place?

Rick http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[zeke]

Right up there on the top of the heap.....

[dasspunk]

Take a listen to the Kentucky Colonels (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2408851)...

[grsnovi]

Nice 5 pg article on Roland in the Vol.5, No.3 (Winter 2003-2004) issue of Mandolin Magazine which if you don't get, you might want to track down a copy. Includes a selected discography and 2 pgs of music for "Jelly on my Tofu" (not included in the 5 pgs of the article). You can contact the magazine via their web site: www.mandolinmagazine.com

[Big Joe]

Roland is not only a very very fine mandolin player, he is truly a real gentleman and a person I am happy to call a friend. He is the real deal. A legacy that has existed for fifty years. Any tribute to bluegrass without Roland would not be complete.

[mandodon]

He's been my second biggest mandolin influence, next to WSM himself.

[AlanN]

Him and Frank Wakefield were the first guys I listened to way back when, then hit Monroe and all the rest. Roland's work with the KC was hot, melodic and cool!

[peterleyenaar]

Besides being a great musician and a gentleman, Roland is also a great teacher, I received my first mandolin lessons from him and it has been a lasting experience

I owe everything I know about the mandolin to Roland White. He is my hero plain and simple. Roland stands at the very top next to Bill Monroe. There is alot of Bluegrass history that is tied to Roland. I hope Roland and the Kentucky Colonels will be inducted into the IBMA hall of fame where they rightly deserve it.

[jlb]

Never forget too the contribution Roland White brother Clarence had to the evolution of bluegrass music. If you tune into a radio station that plays bluegrass, I'd bet that at least half of the new stuff will have a flatpicker taking breaks. If Clarence White had not been there, such may not be the case.

And if you didn't have Clarence White, you may not have had Tony Rice. In my opinion, virtually every bluegrass flatpicker can trace their origin of influences straight back to Clarence White. He really took what Doc Watson started, applied it to bluegrass, and caused an explosion of popularity of flatpicking in the bluegrass genre that still goes on strong today.

Those Kentucky Colonel recordings are priceless.

[mandopete]

Interesting...nary a mention of The Nashville Bluegrass Band, of which Roland was a part for a good number of years.

[chirorehab]

I think he stands to the left of the banjo player!!

Eric

[64lusso]

Much to my surprise no one has yet mentioned that he was a Blue Grass Boy even before he was a Kentucky Col. of course he was a guitar player on that gig but certainly he learned some things about bluegrass mandolin while he was there. I also agree with one of the above posts about his book, if you are just getting rolling on the mandolin and aspire to be a bluegrass player you really need his book.

[jlb]

Actually, Roland White became a Bluegrass Boy after the Kentucky Colonels had split.

[Rroyd]

He also played with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, and was playing guitar after Marty Stuart joined the group, but I think he also played mandolin with them when Marty wasn't available.

Roland also did a stint with Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass. Then Marty Stuart moved to town and roomed with Roland and took over Rolands job with Lester while Roland quit to start to tour again with brother Clarence. Soon after that Clarence was ran over by a drunk driver while him and Roland was loading their equipment in the car.

After that Roland joined Country Gazette for several years.

Yes we can't forget his sting with Nashville Bluegrass band which was great!

[AlanN]

And, I dug his "I Wasn't Born To Rock and Roll (but I love to cook)" record on the RidgeRunner label. Has the recorded version of "Powder Creek", the tune he and brother Clarence wrote at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike - nice little tune.

[AlanN]

To continue the musings on Roland, his mandolin style changed dramatically over the years, to my ears. He went from a hard-edged, loud, very grassy style during the early KC days to a more lyrical, subtle and laid back approach. He's da man.

"Powder Creek", YES, YES, YES.. I love that record and that tune. Roland Once told a story about Clarence and him coming up with that tune.. They pulled over and did a run thru in a restroom of the tune. They had just saw a bunch of hippies playing in the creek and doing some " White Powder" . hahah cocaine

[evanreilly]

I've heard that Monroe actually wanted to hire Clarence for the guitar spot, but Clarence didn't want to 'cut his hair' and only do the Monroe guitar solos, namely 'Panhandle Country', 'Cheyenne', etc. Roland did a great job with Monroe on guitar & vocals, tho.

[Jim Roberts]

My favorite Roland White quote is, "most jams today play bluegrass way too fast". #He's a genuine guy with a heart of gold and fun to pick with, no matter what your level of playing.

[kudzugypsy]

one thing I began to realize about Roland after playing the mandolin for many years is the fact he is a "pure" mandolin player. he plays the mandolin in that ever fading style that is being replaced by speed and over the top technique (which there is nothing wrong with...i'd like to be faster and cleaner too). what happens is that today, he may be overlooked on peoples top 10 lists, but if you go back and listen to a lot of Kentucky Col's cuts, he was WAY ahead of his time (as was Clarence). People just dont realize what a major impact that band had on bluegrass. They were serious about their music and worked hard to get it right, and at the time, we're talking about a band barely out of there teens. (Clarence was a teenager)
and a great guy too!

[Peter Hackman]

My favorite Roland White quote is, "most jams today play bluegrass way too fast".
Sounds like a very perceptive feller.

[mandopete]

Roland Once told a story about Clarence and him coming up with that tune...
While we're on the subject of Roland White stories...

I had a chance to meet him and the rest of The Nashville Bluegrass band at a gig in Leavenworth, Washington. #I noticed that the band had switched back from the single mic to a multi mic set-up and I asked Roland about it. #He said something to the effect of "Yeah, I know how to work the single mic, but some others in the band don't and that's all I need is to take a banjo headstock upside my head and I'm going down for good!"

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Darryl Wolfe]

I had the pleasure of seeing Roland when he was with Monroe in the mid/late 60's. His diminutive size and large guitar brought out some humor in Monroe that was rarely seen. Soon after, Lester hijacked Roland and Vic Jordan to the Nashville Grass....I'm sure that helped Lester and Bill's relationship. Roland and I jammed many a time at those festivals during that period and at the early Nashville DJ Conventions. He was always one of the most friendly, approachable and unassuming musicians and he helped me alot with deciphering some of Monroes licks and generally with developing my style.

[Don Grieser]

Besides all the other great characteristics of Roland's playing, he has the most efficient left hand of anyone I've ever seen. You can't hardly tell which finger is fretting a note even if you're sitting 3 feet away from him. Those fingers never seem to get more than an eighth of an inch above the strings.

And in this day of the million note players, Roland only plays as much as the song needs. Tasteful every time. And a really nice guy to boot.

We need more people like Roland in bluegrass today..

I still hope the Kentucky Colonels make it in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame where they deserve it.

[Fred G]

On a my recent first time visit to Nashville, I took in the Roland White band at the Station Inn on a Friday and had a wonderful lesson with Roland over the weekend. He was really fun to hang out with and we worked on a couple of tunes I was trying to figure out. It was a pleasure meeting him and playing together.

[jbrwky]

I met him in a small music shop in California where he played in front of about 40 people for an hour. After the gig he hung out and just chatted with people. Hell of a nice guy. If you've ever heard those cuts of his brother Clarence jammin' with Doc Watson you know where bluegrass flatpicking comes from.

Speaking of Roland.. He is playing at the Station this Saturday night

[Salty Dog]

Without meaning the slightest disrespect to Buck White as he is a fine mandolin player, but I think they picked the wrong White for "Mandolin Extravaganza". #The public image of Buck is that of playing piano for his daughter's appearances, rather than being a very public mandolin persona. #Roland fit all the qualifications to have been on that album and I will never understand why he was so disrespected. #It's not like he would have run up a large expense account as he lives in Nashville, where it was recorded. #It almost makes me think that something political was going on although I do not regard Ronnie as a political person but perhaps DWG fits that bill.

[Mandomax]

Buck is Ricky Skaggs' father-in-law. I'll let y'all infer the rest. And I agree there were a whole host of pickers that would have ripped it up- they even comment on it in the liner notes. Compton, Gaudreau, etc. Great album regardless!!!