Multi-instrumentalist Patrick Bouldin leads the group of misfits. Having grown up in Denison Texas, Patrick has received formal instruction in mandolin by very respected industry greats such as Mike Marshall (David Grisman Quintet), Shawn Lane (Blue Highway), Frank Solivan (Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen), Danny Roberts (The Grascals), John Reischman (John Reischman & the JayBirds) and local celebrities Gerald Jones (mandolin) and Roberta Rast (Fiddle, “The Kildares”). Patrick’s first love is bluegrass but in recent years has expanded his repertoire and that of the band to include Swing, Western Swing and “Grass’d Country”.
Raised in Abilene, Richard Gilbert learned to love music, especially acoustic music at an early age while listening to his Dad play the fiddle and guitar. It was just by accident that he was introduced to Bluegrass and Traditional Country music when someone left an Eight Track of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Bands “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” tape at his house. He started playing his guitar and singing along with the songs on that tape and that’s all it took. He was hooked. He has led Traditional and Contemporary Music Services at his Church and has written numerous Gospel and Bluegrass songs over the years. He has been influenced by John Denver, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Merle Haggard, and many others. Richard has played in very well-known Texas bluegrass bands in the years past, such as “Southern Comfort” in the early 80’s. There the band won numerous awards including “Best Band” at Bill Grants Festival in Hugo Ok. He also played with “Here and Now” at numerous Festivals across Texas and Oklahoma.
While multi-instrumentalist Chris Plumlee is the banjo picker in the band he also is accomplished in fiddle and guitar. Chris founded a bluegrass music program for children and teens, and currently has twelve students aged from nine to seventeen. Within this program he has established two bands, the older students; First Class Bluegrass and the younger students; Growing on Bluegrass. They have played often around Collin County at chili cookoffs, church functions, and fundraisers. Chris and his wife, Lisa have three children who are also learning to play bluegrass. Chris is a Captain rank firefighter for the City of Allen. Read and article about Chris in Allen Image “There’s No Putting Out This Bluegrass Fire“.
Liz Patton has loved country music for as long as she can remember, and discovered bluegrass jams were a great opportunity to play with other musicians. She started playing bass on a whim at 15, and took to it with gusto. Since basses are expensive and her parents are skilled woodworkers, her mom built her unique mano-bass as a 16th birthday present. She started learning bass from Bill Bryson, who played with The Dillards and Country Gazette. She studied celtic music and bluegrass with Joe Carr and Alan Munde for her Associates in Commercial music from South Plains College, and was awarded Best Female Bluegrass Instrumentalist her final year there. She went on to get a Bachelors in Jazz performance from UT Arlington after she realized if she had the chops to play jazz then she could figure out how to play any genre. She also wrote several articles for Mel Bay’s Bass Sessions Web ‘zine, and spent a summer teaching bass for National Guitar Workshop.
Jake Mills first picked up a fiddle at the age of 9 and since then has gone on to develop a love for a wide range of styles from Jazz to Celtic. He has roots in both the classical and Texas contest fiddle worlds, but the style that he is most proficient in is Cape Breton fiddling—a Celtic style that has origins in the Nova Scotian island of Cape Breton. Besides his studies in the art of Cape Breton fiddling, Texas and Celtic fiddling, and Classical, Jake always made time to jam with any bluegrass community he could work his way into. The combination of the techniques learned in each style of music come together to form an unmistakable sound that is full of energy and spirit.
Currently, Jake is attending Parker University perusing his doctorate in chiropractic care. Although music is a huge passion in his life, he also has a deep love and appreciation for medicine and is aiming to one day open up his own clinic. Through the rigor and intensity of medical school, Jake finds the fiddle to be one of the best forms of recreation and often turns to the music community as an escape from the ever-present burden of coursework.
