Grass Roots

As many bluegrass acts are incorporating elements of pop, rock and Nashville into their music and becoming so-called New Grass bands, the Dry Branch Fire Squad is bucking the trend.

The Ohio-based bluegrass outfit, which is playing a concert at the Bethel Lutheran Church in Encino on Friday, looks to music that’s over 200 years old for its inspiration.

“We’re pretty much aggressively traditional,” said Ron Thomason, the group’s mandolin player, singer and resident raconteur. “I like New Grass, but we don’t play any of it.”

Which is not to say the range of their music is limited to old stuff.

“We do some originals, a lot of 17th-century and 19th-century songs,” Thomason said, “and a lot of contemporary songs that have not been heard much anyplace else.”

Thomason comes to bluegrass firsthand by way of his southwest Virginia roots. As a young musician, he worked with bluegrass legends Ralph Stanley and Frank Wakefield. Eventually, he started his own band.

“I wasn’t getting to play music I wanted to play,” Thomason said. With the Dry Branch Fire Squad “it’s been 20 years, and we haven’t done anything we didn’t want to do.”

Besides Thomason, the group consists of singer-guitarist Suzanne Thomas, singer-guitarist Mary Jo Leet, acoustic bassist Charlie Leet and banjoist Bill Evans. The group recorded its first album for Rounder Records back in 1981. About a dozen albums later, their latest, “Live at Last,” was released in January.

“It’s the music I like best,” Thomason said. “So that’s what I play most.”

Thomason is the spokesman for the band on stage. His demeanor is pure hillbilly, but his patter humorously touches on a variety of subjects including American and English literature, history and contemporary culture and politics in his attempt to “edify” as well as entertain the audience. Not surprisingly, Thomason was a high school English teacher for almost 30 years.

“A lot of places, you have to school the audience, expecially in traditional music of the kind we do,” he said. “It’s nice to play in California, where the audiences come pretty well prepared.”

Thomason retired from teaching in December to concentrate more on his music and his other occupation, raising horses.

“I went on Christmas vacation last year for the rest of my life,” Thomason said.

Loving What You Do

Texas bluesman Teddy Morgan comes back to Cozy’s on Friday. The Antone Records recording artist called last week from a noisy club just outside of Zurich, Switzerland, where he’s touring. He said the European trip has been good--and hectic.

“It’s been great,” Morgan said over the din of Swiss fun seekers. “That’s the one thing about Europe, the response is always great.”

“But it seems that we’re always running around--no time to eat, getting up early, stayin’ up late. [It’s good that] I love what I do.”

Morgan originally hails from Minneapolis, but now lives in Austin, Texas. Before that he spent a year living in Los Angeles, while playing lead guitar in James Harmon’s blues outfit.

“I was only 20 when I met Clifford Antone in Austin, but I decided to wait and go to L.A. to work with Harmon,” Morgan said. But he said he’s glad he did because he learned a lot in that year.

“Not that he sat me down and told me something, but you learn from experience,” Morgan said. “Working with him , livin’ with Junior Watson, it was fun.”

And Morgan, now 25, is still learning and absorbing.

“I got Steve Earle’s new record, I just love it.” he said. “I just want to play my own music, instead of re-creating certain styles.”

BE THERE

Dry Branch Fire Squad at 8 p.m. Friday at Bethel Lutheran Church, 17500 Burbank Blvd., Encino. Tickets are $15. (818) 700-8288.

Teddy Morgan and the Sevilles play Friday night at Cozy’s, 14058 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. $5 cover. (818) 986-6000.