The Five of a Kind

40 Years of Picking Traditional Bluegrass

For 40 years, the Five of a Kind bluegrass band has been entertaining audiences up and down the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Based in Strasburg, Virginia, the group’s personable and involve-the-audience approach to a traditional blend of bluegrass and classic country gathered a large following throughout the area. Founding member Jimmy Drummond, who plays left-handed guitar and sings most of the lead vocals, attributes the band’s longevity to the fact that even with changes in personnel, new members already know the music in the old traditional style. They are able to run through a few songs and be ready to go. Drummond is a big fan of the music of The Country Gentlemen and the band’s repertoire reflects that influence as well as other bluegrass and country music pioneers, like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Hank Snow, and Hank Williams. 

Five of a Kind started in 1980 as a group of friends jamming in a garage behind the home of local residents, Winston and Martha Brill. The group included Drummond on guitar, Gene Stokes on mandolin, Doug Arthur on bass, Charlie Nicholson on banjo, and Richard Kleese on resonator guitar. They played some local parties and events, but before long were invited to play at Winchester, Virginia’s Apple Blossom Festival. Five of a Kind was now official.

During these early years they opened for the Country Gentlemen at the former Hupp’s Hill Park in Strasburg. Other bands playing there included the Lost and Found, and a Washington DC band Appalachian Reign.  That band was led by a young Tom Knowles, who years later was to become a member of the Five of a Kind. After spending about a year with the band, bassist Doug Arthur moved on and was replaced by Vince Poling. 

Toward the end of the 1980s, the group felt confident enough to enter the studio.  In 1988 they recorded and released their first project First Deal, with good fan response. The band soon returned to the studio and released their second recording, Dealer’s Choice. Later that year, bassist Poling decided to leave the group, and was replaced by another local bassist, Norman Racey, who remains in the band. 

They were soon back in the studio to record an all-gospel project Little White Church. With the personnel staying pretty consistent for the next few years, the band was quite active and subsequently released three more projects, Traditions (1991), Memories (1992), and Ridin’ The Blue Ridge (1992). In January of 1994, Five of a Kind was invited and featured to play at the inauguration of Virginia Governor’s George Allen, an event held at the famous Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. During the nineties, the band traveled throughout the mid-Atlantic region sharing the stage with such artists as Jimmy Martin, Ralph Stanley, County Gentlemen, Seldom Scene, Lewis Family, Mac Wiseman, Grandpa Jones, Johnson Mountain Boys and many others. They also appeared at the Lucketts Community Center in Lucketts, VA where in a 1998 survey, Five of a Kind was voted the most popular traditional band in the local/regional category. 

The band was back in the studio in 2000, recording their next project, Best Hand. This release included their latest addition to the group, veteran fiddler Bill Poffinberger, who previously played with Cliff Waldron, Del McCoury and Benny and Vallie Cain. Five of a Kind now had six members, but the band name stayed the same. Justifying the decision was easy… they had five right-handed musicians…number six was “lefty” Jimmy Drummond. 

Change would soon come again with the departure of founding member Richard Kleese.  The band signed on a young, guitar/mandolin picker, Joe Passolano to replace Kleese.  Now with two guitarists and two mandolin players, the band released New Addition in 2002.  Change would come again…the pull of day jobs, travel and family took its toll as both Poffinberger and founding member Charlie Nicholson left the band. 

With no banjo player, Drummond, Stokes, Racey, and Passolano, were concerned about the band’s future. However, they soon found a Louisiana transplant named Terry Barbin, who played both banjo and resonator guitar. Barbin was a former and founding member of Louisiana Grass. Barbin was a big fan of Flatt and Scruggs, so he fit right into the mix. Now back to five members, they played on until marriage and a move took Passolano off to the Carolinas. 

In the summer of 2006, the band was playing at a firemen’s carnival in nearby Star Tannery, VA where they asked newcomer Bill Foster to sit in. Foster had recently moved to Strasburg from Florida, where he was a member there of local band Swinging Bridge.  Foster played mandolin and guitar, sang lead and harmony and was looking for other musicians. The members liked what they heard, and he was asked to join the band. Now back to five and with a full schedule, they went to Phoenix Studios in Browntown, VA.  In 2007, they recorded and released, Royal Flush, which is still available from the band at their shows. 

After 27 years, founding member Gene Stokes retired in 2007, leaving Jimmy Drummond as the remaining founding band member. Drummond has always been the band leader and along with long-time bassist Racey, kept the group on the same musical path.  For most of the 2008 season the band played as a four-piece group, until fiddler Tom Knowles, formerly with the DC band Appalachian Reign, singed on.  Now back to five members, they continued their busy performance schedule of carnivals, yard parties, and an occasional festival. 

Change would come again in 2001, the band’s 31st, when Bill Foster, and fiddler Tom Knowles both decided to leave. However, on the other side of the change, original member Richard Kleese returned.  A young mandolinist Ben Whitman brought the band back to full strength with Terry Barbin on banjo, long-time bassist Norman Racey and founding member Jimmy Drummond.

In 2015, Terry Barbin decided to leave but was soon replaced by Richard “Buggs” Frank on banjo and vocals. In 2016, mandolinist Ben Whitman moved out of the area and was replaced by Tim Lansberry who had experience with several Shenandoah Valley bluegrass bands. Lansberry was only available part-time, so the group brought in fiddler James “Jamie” Thomas, who also added lead and harmony vocals.  

Recently, the band has had the privilege and pleasure of appearing at Belle Grove Plantation, the Shenandoah County Fair, the Warren County Fair, and the Page County Fair, among other venues. 

Holding a band together for 40 years is quite an accomplishment, and founder Jimmy Drummond deserves the credit for being able to attract and bring in mostly like-minded players.  For a local band, the many changes over the past 40 years have been somewhat low compared to other groups. Staying local to the northern Shenandoah Valley area enabled band members to have day jobs and stable family lives while entertaining a devoted fan base. 

Admittedly there is some graying at the temples among the members, but the commitment and strength toward the music and performance is still there.  Visit the band’s web site for updates, fiveofakindbluegrass.com.