John Duffey "Seldom Scene"
Known for his excellent tenor voice, superb mandolin playing and witty rapport with other members of the band and the audience..Member of the great Bluegrass Band Seldom Scene.
I have never heard a voice so great as that of John Duffey. I have only had the honor to see him live once at a Folk Festival in Edmonton, Canada, that was the first time I heard Seldom Scene. Their style was(and still is)very unique ..I am so glad I stopped by the jamming booth that day it was a wonderful experience. I have been a fan ever since.
Obit by Bart Barnes
John Duffey, 62, a singer and mandolin player who founded and led the Seldom Scene bluegrass group for 25 years, died Nov. 10 at Arlington Hospital after a heart attack.
Mr. Duffey, who was known to music lovers for a high, lonesome and lusty tenor voice that was once described as `one in a million,' had been a fixture in Washington's musical community since the 1950s. The Seldom Scene was probably the premier bluegrass band in the Washington area, according to Pete Kuykendall, the publisher of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and a former bandmate of Mr. Duffey's.
For 22 years, the Seldom Scene has played regularly at the Birchmere in Alexandria. The group also has toured oveseas, played in most of the 50 states and produced dozens of recordings, tapes and compact discs.
The group's most recent album is `Dream Scene,' released this fall. The Seldom Scene played with other bluegrass bands on the Grammy Award-winning `Bluegrass: The World's Greatest Show.' Over the last quarter-century, the group has played for the likes of President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Gore, as well as for members of Congress.
The group was formed in 1971 by Mr. Duffey and four others: Tom Gray, who worked for National Geographic; Ben Eldridge, a mathematician and computer expert; Mike Auldridge, a graphic artist with the Washington Star; and John Starling, a physician and ear, nose and throat specialist.
The five men initially intended to sing and play together only occasionally, hence the name, Seldom Scene. `They started as a fun thing, like a Thursday night poker game or a bowling night,' Kuykendall said.
But the group soon progressed from occasional basement gettogethers to regular Thursday night appearances at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, where they played to standing-room-only crowds, and, from there, to the Birchmere, where they became a weekly fixture.
The Seldom Scene's 15th-anniversary concert was held at the Kennedy Center, and it included a presidential citation from Ronald Reagan, whose press secretary, James Brady, was a regular at the Birchmere. It featured guest appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Mr. Duffey, a resident of Arlington, was born in Washington and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. His father had been a singer with the Metropolitan Opera, and the son inherited an exceptional singing voice with a range said to be three of four octaves.
As a high school student, the young Mr. Duffey developed a love for the bluegrass music he heard on the radio. His father taught him the voice and breathing techniques of a classical opera singer, despite what was said to have been the elder Duffey's lack of enthusiasm for `hillbilly music.'
As a young man, Mr. Duffey worked at a variety of jobs, including that of printer and repairer of stringed instruments. But his avocation was music, and it soon became his vocation as well.
In 1957, with Bill Emerson and Charlie Waller, Mr. Duffey founded the Country Gentlemen, a bluegrass and folk music group that for about 10 years rode the wave of folk music enthusiasm that surged through the 1960s. The group disbanded in the late 1960s, and Mr. Duffey went to work as an instrument repairman at a music store in the Cherrydale section of Arlington, which was how he was making a living when the Seldom Scene was formed.
`When we started the Seldom Scene, we all had jobs and we didn't care if anybody liked what we did or not,' Auldridge told The Washington Post's Richard Harrington last year. `We just said, `We're going to do some bluegrass because we love it, and some James Taylor or Grateful Dead, and if people buy it, great. If they don't, what do we care?'
Mr. Duffey was a large and imposing man with a precise and soulfully expressive voice, and his singing was invariably moving. But he also had an engaging, irrepressible and sometimes off-the-wall style of stage chatter and a superb sense of timing that could break up an audience with a one-liner.
`What people love about him is that you know he's one of these guys stuck in the '50s, but he's so happy with himself, so confident, and he's also nuts,' Auldridge said in 1989.
In the quarter-century since its formation, the Seldom Scene built its reputation on flawless harmony, instrumental virtuosity and a repertoire that included traditional bluegrass and modern popular music, rock tunes, swing and country, gospel and jazz.
Over the years, there would be changes in the group's composition, but until last year, the instrumental core remained the same: Mr. Duffey on mandolin, Eldridge on banjo and Auldridge on dobro. But Auldridge left the group in December, leaving only two original members.
In September, Mr. Duffey was inducted along with the original Country Gentlemen into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Fame.
He is survivied by his wife Nancy and daughter, Ginger. Also his three stepchildren; Donald, Richard, and Darci.
Born Washington DC.
Died at Arlington Virginia.
Known for his excellent tenor voice, superb mandolin playing and witty rapport with other members of the band and the audience..Member of the great Bluegrass Band Seldom Scene.
I have never heard a voice so great as that of John Duffey. I have only had the honor to see him live once at a Folk Festival in Edmonton, Canada, that was the first time I heard Seldom Scene. Their style was(and still is)very unique ..I am so glad I stopped by the jamming booth that day it was a wonderful experience. I have been a fan ever since.
Obit by Bart Barnes
John Duffey, 62, a singer and mandolin player who founded and led the Seldom Scene bluegrass group for 25 years, died Nov. 10 at Arlington Hospital after a heart attack.
Mr. Duffey, who was known to music lovers for a high, lonesome and lusty tenor voice that was once described as `one in a million,' had been a fixture in Washington's musical community since the 1950s. The Seldom Scene was probably the premier bluegrass band in the Washington area, according to Pete Kuykendall, the publisher of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and a former bandmate of Mr. Duffey's.
For 22 years, the Seldom Scene has played regularly at the Birchmere in Alexandria. The group also has toured oveseas, played in most of the 50 states and produced dozens of recordings, tapes and compact discs.
The group's most recent album is `Dream Scene,' released this fall. The Seldom Scene played with other bluegrass bands on the Grammy Award-winning `Bluegrass: The World's Greatest Show.' Over the last quarter-century, the group has played for the likes of President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Gore, as well as for members of Congress.
The group was formed in 1971 by Mr. Duffey and four others: Tom Gray, who worked for National Geographic; Ben Eldridge, a mathematician and computer expert; Mike Auldridge, a graphic artist with the Washington Star; and John Starling, a physician and ear, nose and throat specialist.
The five men initially intended to sing and play together only occasionally, hence the name, Seldom Scene. `They started as a fun thing, like a Thursday night poker game or a bowling night,' Kuykendall said.
But the group soon progressed from occasional basement gettogethers to regular Thursday night appearances at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, where they played to standing-room-only crowds, and, from there, to the Birchmere, where they became a weekly fixture.
The Seldom Scene's 15th-anniversary concert was held at the Kennedy Center, and it included a presidential citation from Ronald Reagan, whose press secretary, James Brady, was a regular at the Birchmere. It featured guest appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Mr. Duffey, a resident of Arlington, was born in Washington and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. His father had been a singer with the Metropolitan Opera, and the son inherited an exceptional singing voice with a range said to be three of four octaves.
As a high school student, the young Mr. Duffey developed a love for the bluegrass music he heard on the radio. His father taught him the voice and breathing techniques of a classical opera singer, despite what was said to have been the elder Duffey's lack of enthusiasm for `hillbilly music.'
As a young man, Mr. Duffey worked at a variety of jobs, including that of printer and repairer of stringed instruments. But his avocation was music, and it soon became his vocation as well.
In 1957, with Bill Emerson and Charlie Waller, Mr. Duffey founded the Country Gentlemen, a bluegrass and folk music group that for about 10 years rode the wave of folk music enthusiasm that surged through the 1960s. The group disbanded in the late 1960s, and Mr. Duffey went to work as an instrument repairman at a music store in the Cherrydale section of Arlington, which was how he was making a living when the Seldom Scene was formed.
`When we started the Seldom Scene, we all had jobs and we didn't care if anybody liked what we did or not,' Auldridge told The Washington Post's Richard Harrington last year. `We just said, `We're going to do some bluegrass because we love it, and some James Taylor or Grateful Dead, and if people buy it, great. If they don't, what do we care?'
Mr. Duffey was a large and imposing man with a precise and soulfully expressive voice, and his singing was invariably moving. But he also had an engaging, irrepressible and sometimes off-the-wall style of stage chatter and a superb sense of timing that could break up an audience with a one-liner.
`What people love about him is that you know he's one of these guys stuck in the '50s, but he's so happy with himself, so confident, and he's also nuts,' Auldridge said in 1989.
In the quarter-century since its formation, the Seldom Scene built its reputation on flawless harmony, instrumental virtuosity and a repertoire that included traditional bluegrass and modern popular music, rock tunes, swing and country, gospel and jazz.
Over the years, there would be changes in the group's composition, but until last year, the instrumental core remained the same: Mr. Duffey on mandolin, Eldridge on banjo and Auldridge on dobro. But Auldridge left the group in December, leaving only two original members.
In September, Mr. Duffey was inducted along with the original Country Gentlemen into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Fame.
He is survivied by his wife Nancy and daughter, Ginger. Also his three stepchildren; Donald, Richard, and Darci.
Born Washington DC.
Died at Arlington Virginia.
John Duffey "Seldom Scene"
Known for his excellent tenor voice, superb mandolin playing and witty rapport with other members of the band and the audience..Member of the great Bluegrass Band Seldom Scene.
I have never heard a voice so great as that of John Duffey. I have only had the honor to see him live once at a Folk Festival in Edmonton, Canada, that was the first time I heard Seldom Scene. Their style was(and still is)very unique ..I am so glad I stopped by the jamming booth that day it was a wonderful experience. I have been a fan ever since.
Obit by Bart Barnes
John Duffey, 62, a singer and mandolin player who founded and led the Seldom Scene bluegrass group for 25 years, died Nov. 10 at Arlington Hospital after a heart attack.
Mr. Duffey, who was known to music lovers for a high, lonesome and lusty tenor voice that was once described as `one in a million,' had been a fixture in Washington's musical community since the 1950s. The Seldom Scene was probably the premier bluegrass band in the Washington area, according to Pete Kuykendall, the publisher of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and a former bandmate of Mr. Duffey's.
For 22 years, the Seldom Scene has played regularly at the Birchmere in Alexandria. The group also has toured oveseas, played in most of the 50 states and produced dozens of recordings, tapes and compact discs.
The group's most recent album is `Dream Scene,' released this fall. The Seldom Scene played with other bluegrass bands on the Grammy Award-winning `Bluegrass: The World's Greatest Show.' Over the last quarter-century, the group has played for the likes of President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Gore, as well as for members of Congress.
The group was formed in 1971 by Mr. Duffey and four others: Tom Gray, who worked for National Geographic; Ben Eldridge, a mathematician and computer expert; Mike Auldridge, a graphic artist with the Washington Star; and John Starling, a physician and ear, nose and throat specialist.
The five men initially intended to sing and play together only occasionally, hence the name, Seldom Scene. `They started as a fun thing, like a Thursday night poker game or a bowling night,' Kuykendall said.
But the group soon progressed from occasional basement gettogethers to regular Thursday night appearances at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, where they played to standing-room-only crowds, and, from there, to the Birchmere, where they became a weekly fixture.
The Seldom Scene's 15th-anniversary concert was held at the Kennedy Center, and it included a presidential citation from Ronald Reagan, whose press secretary, James Brady, was a regular at the Birchmere. It featured guest appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Mr. Duffey, a resident of Arlington, was born in Washington and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. His father had been a singer with the Metropolitan Opera, and the son inherited an exceptional singing voice with a range said to be three of four octaves.
As a high school student, the young Mr. Duffey developed a love for the bluegrass music he heard on the radio. His father taught him the voice and breathing techniques of a classical opera singer, despite what was said to have been the elder Duffey's lack of enthusiasm for `hillbilly music.'
As a young man, Mr. Duffey worked at a variety of jobs, including that of printer and repairer of stringed instruments. But his avocation was music, and it soon became his vocation as well.
In 1957, with Bill Emerson and Charlie Waller, Mr. Duffey founded the Country Gentlemen, a bluegrass and folk music group that for about 10 years rode the wave of folk music enthusiasm that surged through the 1960s. The group disbanded in the late 1960s, and Mr. Duffey went to work as an instrument repairman at a music store in the Cherrydale section of Arlington, which was how he was making a living when the Seldom Scene was formed.
`When we started the Seldom Scene, we all had jobs and we didn't care if anybody liked what we did or not,' Auldridge told The Washington Post's Richard Harrington last year. `We just said, `We're going to do some bluegrass because we love it, and some James Taylor or Grateful Dead, and if people buy it, great. If they don't, what do we care?'
Mr. Duffey was a large and imposing man with a precise and soulfully expressive voice, and his singing was invariably moving. But he also had an engaging, irrepressible and sometimes off-the-wall style of stage chatter and a superb sense of timing that could break up an audience with a one-liner.
`What people love about him is that you know he's one of these guys stuck in the '50s, but he's so happy with himself, so confident, and he's also nuts,' Auldridge said in 1989.
In the quarter-century since its formation, the Seldom Scene built its reputation on flawless harmony, instrumental virtuosity and a repertoire that included traditional bluegrass and modern popular music, rock tunes, swing and country, gospel and jazz.
Over the years, there would be changes in the group's composition, but until last year, the instrumental core remained the same: Mr. Duffey on mandolin, Eldridge on banjo and Auldridge on dobro. But Auldridge left the group in December, leaving only two original members.
In September, Mr. Duffey was inducted along with the original Country Gentlemen into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Fame.
He is survivied by his wife Nancy and daughter, Ginger. Also his three stepchildren; Donald, Richard, and Darci.
Born Washington DC.
Died at Arlington Virginia.
Known for his excellent tenor voice, superb mandolin playing and witty rapport with other members of the band and the audience..Member of the great Bluegrass Band Seldom Scene.
I have never heard a voice so great as that of John Duffey. I have only had the honor to see him live once at a Folk Festival in Edmonton, Canada, that was the first time I heard Seldom Scene. Their style was(and still is)very unique ..I am so glad I stopped by the jamming booth that day it was a wonderful experience. I have been a fan ever since.
Obit by Bart Barnes
John Duffey, 62, a singer and mandolin player who founded and led the Seldom Scene bluegrass group for 25 years, died Nov. 10 at Arlington Hospital after a heart attack.
Mr. Duffey, who was known to music lovers for a high, lonesome and lusty tenor voice that was once described as `one in a million,' had been a fixture in Washington's musical community since the 1950s. The Seldom Scene was probably the premier bluegrass band in the Washington area, according to Pete Kuykendall, the publisher of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and a former bandmate of Mr. Duffey's.
For 22 years, the Seldom Scene has played regularly at the Birchmere in Alexandria. The group also has toured oveseas, played in most of the 50 states and produced dozens of recordings, tapes and compact discs.
The group's most recent album is `Dream Scene,' released this fall. The Seldom Scene played with other bluegrass bands on the Grammy Award-winning `Bluegrass: The World's Greatest Show.' Over the last quarter-century, the group has played for the likes of President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Gore, as well as for members of Congress.
The group was formed in 1971 by Mr. Duffey and four others: Tom Gray, who worked for National Geographic; Ben Eldridge, a mathematician and computer expert; Mike Auldridge, a graphic artist with the Washington Star; and John Starling, a physician and ear, nose and throat specialist.
The five men initially intended to sing and play together only occasionally, hence the name, Seldom Scene. `They started as a fun thing, like a Thursday night poker game or a bowling night,' Kuykendall said.
But the group soon progressed from occasional basement gettogethers to regular Thursday night appearances at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, where they played to standing-room-only crowds, and, from there, to the Birchmere, where they became a weekly fixture.
The Seldom Scene's 15th-anniversary concert was held at the Kennedy Center, and it included a presidential citation from Ronald Reagan, whose press secretary, James Brady, was a regular at the Birchmere. It featured guest appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Mr. Duffey, a resident of Arlington, was born in Washington and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. His father had been a singer with the Metropolitan Opera, and the son inherited an exceptional singing voice with a range said to be three of four octaves.
As a high school student, the young Mr. Duffey developed a love for the bluegrass music he heard on the radio. His father taught him the voice and breathing techniques of a classical opera singer, despite what was said to have been the elder Duffey's lack of enthusiasm for `hillbilly music.'
As a young man, Mr. Duffey worked at a variety of jobs, including that of printer and repairer of stringed instruments. But his avocation was music, and it soon became his vocation as well.
In 1957, with Bill Emerson and Charlie Waller, Mr. Duffey founded the Country Gentlemen, a bluegrass and folk music group that for about 10 years rode the wave of folk music enthusiasm that surged through the 1960s. The group disbanded in the late 1960s, and Mr. Duffey went to work as an instrument repairman at a music store in the Cherrydale section of Arlington, which was how he was making a living when the Seldom Scene was formed.
`When we started the Seldom Scene, we all had jobs and we didn't care if anybody liked what we did or not,' Auldridge told The Washington Post's Richard Harrington last year. `We just said, `We're going to do some bluegrass because we love it, and some James Taylor or Grateful Dead, and if people buy it, great. If they don't, what do we care?'
Mr. Duffey was a large and imposing man with a precise and soulfully expressive voice, and his singing was invariably moving. But he also had an engaging, irrepressible and sometimes off-the-wall style of stage chatter and a superb sense of timing that could break up an audience with a one-liner.
`What people love about him is that you know he's one of these guys stuck in the '50s, but he's so happy with himself, so confident, and he's also nuts,' Auldridge said in 1989.
In the quarter-century since its formation, the Seldom Scene built its reputation on flawless harmony, instrumental virtuosity and a repertoire that included traditional bluegrass and modern popular music, rock tunes, swing and country, gospel and jazz.
Over the years, there would be changes in the group's composition, but until last year, the instrumental core remained the same: Mr. Duffey on mandolin, Eldridge on banjo and Auldridge on dobro. But Auldridge left the group in December, leaving only two original members.
In September, Mr. Duffey was inducted along with the original Country Gentlemen into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Fame.
He is survivied by his wife Nancy and daughter, Ginger. Also his three stepchildren; Donald, Richard, and Darci.
Born Washington DC.
Died at Arlington Virginia.
