POP REVIEW : Shade Tree Program’s Pickings Are Far From Slim

Saturday’s bluegrass triple bill at Shade Tree Stringed Instruments was something of a summit meeting of Southern California bluegrass talent, with the emphasis on Southern.

Sandwiched between San Diego’s Rose Canyon Bluegrass Band and Orange County’s Pickit Line, Los Angeles’ Grateful Dudes, with their typical keen sense of humor, introduced themselves as “the band from Northern California.” The three-hour concert was jammed with enough spine-tingling harmonies, galloping banjo runs and intricate mandolin solos to prove that there is a wealth of bluegrass talent south of the border--the Ventura border, that is.

During its 55-minute closing set, Orange County’s Pickit Line sent chills through the crowd with its dazzling vocal harmonies. Mandolin player Garrison Shirreffs, guitarist Marshall Andrews and banjo player Janet Beazley took turns on lead vocal. When the three joined voices on the choruses, the smooth blend was sheer magic.

For example, Pickit Line’s version of Bob Nolan’s “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” was so effective at capturing the eerie beauty of the familiar lyrics and melody that it made the well-worn standard sound fresh. Another highlight of Pickit Line’s 13-song set was its a capella version of “Jesus Gave Me Water.” On that song, Andrews, Beazley and Shirreffs were joined by bassist Fred Wade, who sang (what else?) the bass part.

Although Pickit Line’s vocals were the band’s most striking attribute, the four local musicians were no slouches in the picking department. Shirreffs’ lively mandolin solo on “Hello Trouble” gave the number an extra shot of bluegrass energy, and Beazley’s banjo leads had a remarkable lyrical beauty .

In their 60-minute set, the Grateful Dudes, whose motto is “Will Pick for Food,” combined hot picking with an irrepressible sense of humor. The four-man Los Angeles group spent almost as much time joking about the trials and tribulations of the bluegrass life as it did playing music. The Dudes made frequent reference to their customary gigs in pizza parlors and shamelessly hawked their T-shirts, which parody Grateful Dead T-shirts.

Between jokes, the Grateful Dudes managed to work some thrilling picking into their 12-song set. Guitarist Scott Micale contributed sizzling guitar solos to the seminal Blue Sky Boys’ theme song “Are You From Dixie?” and to Dire Straits’ “Setting Me Up.” Renowned fiddler Dennis Fetchet, a longtime star of the Southern California country scene, stepped out to show off his patented fiddle licks on several numbers. He closed the set with his famous otherworldly version of “Orange Blossom Special.”

Fetchet was joined on two numbers by guest fiddler Bruce Johnson of the erstwhile L.A. Fiddle Band. The pair perpetrated an especially devastating twin fiddle attack on “The Old Roanoke.”

Even a fiddle virtuoso like Fetchet couldn’t help getting caught up in the Dudes’ sense of humor, however. He led the group in a tongue-in-cheek version of the honky tonk lament “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music).” “I’ve been playing this song for 20 years,” Fetchet said with a mock world-weary sigh, “and my worst fears were realized--it came true.”

The Rose Canyon Bluegrass Band’s 50-minute opening set lived up to lead singer Dave Lamme’s joking promise of “heartwarming, foot-stomping bluegrass music.” The four-man, one-woman group used its vocal and instrumental prowess to work magic on its own original songs and some well-chosen covers.

Guitarist Lamme, who sang most of the leads, has George Jones’ ability to wrench great emotion out of a lyric while barely moving his lips. He was joined by acoustic bassist Elizabeth Burkett and banjo player Dave Richardson on the harmonies. Burkett sang lead on some of the numbers, including a winning reading of Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” which she dutifully reminded the crowd was penned by Paul Anka.

Rose Canyon’s original songs were particularly striking. Other highlights were “Another Tear” by mandolin player Richard Burkett (Elizabeth’s husband) and the instrumental “Rose Canyon Bounce.” Richardson’s self-described “hit-and-run” banjo solos drew an ovation.