The Tradition Carries On
Porter Church And Kevin Church Father And Son
Porter Church left a grand legacy of musicianship and performance in the Washington, DC area. An extensive biography of him written by Fred Geiger appeared in the January, 1986 edition of Bluegrass Unlimited. Here are some of the highlights of his life and career and the story of his son Kevin following in his footsteps.
Porter was born in 1934 and grew up on a tobacco farm near Bristol, Tennessee. His exposure to music came from going to the top of a nearby mountain peak and listening to the WCYB Farm and Fun Time shows which featured live broadcasts by Flatt and Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers. He got to meet some of his heroes at the station where he talked his way into the studio to listen and watch the broadcasts. Porter’s older brother Jim played a clawhammer style banjo and when he was away in the Army, Porter used his banjo and learned to play by listening to the radio and trying to emulate the sounds he heard. Some of the other area musicians helped Porter learn, but he was for the most part self-taught. By age 16 he was good enough to play in some of the local bands and performed on WCYB with Ralph Mayo. He met and became friends with Carter Stanley and on a few occasions filled in with the Clinch Mountain Boys when Ralph was not available. He met Charlie Monroe at the station and played with him for several months until Porter was drafted. He spent 18 months overseas, mostly in Paris, and during this time played bass in an Army jazz band. Quite a change from playing traditional bluegrass banjo.
In 1955 Porter moved to Washington, DC in the hope of finding better music opportunities. He landed a job with the Stoneman Family Band, who went by the name Bluegrass Champs, and had a five night per week gig at the Famous Restaurant in downtown Washington. A highlight of this time was their appearance on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout TV Program. They were picked as winners by audience applause which led to a two week engagement in New York on Godfrey’s daily radio show. While in New York they performed at several other venues including Carnegie Hall and made a huge salary. Porter felt that he had arrived in the big time. A video of the Godfrey show is available on YouTube.
After leaving The Bluegrass Champs Porter played with many DC area bands and in 1959 played with the Country Gentlemen for several months. In the summer of 1960 he played banjo with Bill Monroe on a Johnny Cash Canadian tour. After the tour, Porter stayed with Monroe but switched to guitar when Jack Cooke left and Rudy Lyle returned from the Army. In 1961 he formed and led a band called the Log Cabin Boys. Porter is best known for his playing and recordings with Red Allen, and for his time with the Country Gentlemen.
After his son Kevin was born in 1962, Porter took a short hiatus from music to give more time and support to his family duties. Kevin grew up watching his dad perform and was interested in music at an early age. For some unknown reason his father tried to steer him away from the banjo. Fiddle lessons were set up with Buck Ryan and steel guitar lessons were arranged with Buddy Charlton. During this period, he learned to play bass and chop chords on the mandolin but Kevin was drawn to the banjo. One evening when his father was out of the house Kevin discovered a banjo that had been left there by a friend of Porter’s. Kevin opened the case and found an instruction book. He took out the banjo, tuned it as best he could, and started practicing roll patterns and chord structure illustrated in the book. Like his father, Kevin was completely self-taught. Very soon he was playing a three-finger style of Scruggs banjo and at this point his father started helping him. They would sit in the living room facing each other and Porter would show him different roll patterns and make suggestions on how to improve his playing. By the time he was 16 he was quite good and able to participate in local jams and perform with some of the area bands.
In 1965 Porter joined up with Red Allen, who had recently moved to the DC area, and formed a band with David Grisman on mandolin, Bobby Diamond on fiddle and Jerry McCoury on bass. They produced one classic album on County. After Grisman left the band, the Yates brothers (Bill and Wayne) joined Red and Porter for a second album on County.
The DC Bluegrass Union recently conducted a Zoom interview with several guests to discuss the life and times of Porter. Jerry McCoury told about his first meeting with him. “I had taken a job playing bass with Red Allen and I was just a young kid still in high school. My first impression of Porter was that I didn’t think we would be able to get along very well. I had heard so much about him all my life from my brother Del. Del loved Porter’s playing and at the time he was learning to play banjo, so he was trying to pick up everything that Porter did. I first met him on a trip to New York and when he stepped on the bus I greeted him and stuck out my hand and told him it was great to finally get to meet him. I told him that he was a hero to my brother and tried to make some conversation, but he just sat there rubbing lotion on his hands. He looked away and didn’t have any comment or anything to say. So I thought ‘oh man’ what kind of deal is this? I didn’t think we were getting off to a good start. But later on he warmed up to me and we formed a very close friendship.” Kevin explained that his dad was just a really nice guy and this was an example of his quiet personality.
When the writer of this article first met Porter I had a similar experience. In the summer of 1983 Bill Torbert recruited him to play in my band, Appalachian Reign, and he came to a rehearsal at Torbert’s house. He arrived without his banjo in hand and sat down without a word to anyone. Bill asked him where his banjo was and Porter replied that it was in the car. Bill told him to go get it and when he did we picked a few tunes and Porter agreed to became part of the band. He told us that he would be able to play most of the gigs but if he was not available, he would send his son Kevin. And it turned out that Kevin was pretty much a clone of his father on banjo and appearance. Porter played with the band for several months and when he decided to give it up Kevin took his place. So, I was quite happy and honored to have performed with two great banjo players, a father and his son.
After Red Allen, Porter didn’t play with anyone on a regular basis until years later when he played with Appalachian Reign. He filled in with Bill Harrell and he would play with different groups at Partners II and attend local jam sessions. He did do a stint with Charlie Moore for about six months in 1977 and Kevin went with him on most occasions. Kevin remembers a funny time in Richmond after playing at the Cock and Bull. “We got a hotel room and I had to sleep in the bed with Curley Lambert. Curley had broken his leg and he was quite a large man. I had to sleep on my side and had only about a foot or so of room in the bed.” These were some of the last shows Charlie played before his untimely death in 1979.
Kevin’s first regular gig was in 1981 playing banjo with Route 15 Express. They were based in the Frederick County, Maryland area and played at many of the local fireman’s carnivals. Kevin and his dad often went to Partners II which booked national touring bands. Kevin remembers first going there with his dad when he was only nine years old. When Kevin was 18 years old the house band, Hobbs and Partners, needed a banjo player and Kevin was hired. He played and toured with them for the next 2 years. Other band members at the time were Bob Cooke on guitar and vocals, John Paganoni on mandolin, Dave Goldman on fiddle and the proprietor of Partners II Arnold Hobbs on bass. This was a great learning experience for Kevin because the band was very good and this helped him become a well respected professional musician. They did one studio recording for an album titled Centreville and he got to meet the headliners that played there during the winter months. Some of the bands and performers that Kevin met were Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Del McCoury, Larry Sparks, Don Reno, Bill Harrell, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson, and Lost and Found. The money was good and this weekly gig gave him enough money to make his monthly car payment. And he got free cokes and food. A pretty good deal for a young man getting started in the business. And a good incentive to give the music business a go!
Kevin and his dad were very close and often traveled to festivals together. One occasion that is a cherished memory was in 1984 at Nancy Talbott’s Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass Festival. “I went up there and played electric bass with Red Allen, Harley Allen and my dad. After Red’s show we were back stage and Peter Rowen asked my dad if he would play banjo with them on their show. He said he couldn’t do it, ‘but my son Kevin will play with you.’ Dad asked me if I wanted to play with them and of course I said yes. I felt pretty confident because by that time I had been playing for seven or eight years. Peter said to get the banjo out and that we would have a short rehearsal. One of the guys in the band I didn’t recognize said, ‘Peter, what song are we are kicking off with?’ It turned out fiddler Mark O’Connor was the person who asked the question and the next thing I know I’m backstage getting ready to play a show with Peter Rowan, Mark O’Connor, Roy Husky Jr, Mike Auldridge, and Marty Stewart. There was a huge crowd there and when we walked on stage the announcer said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen make welcome Emmy Lou Harris.’ Emmy Lou walked on stage and we did half of the set from her Roses in the Snow album with no rehearsal. I had seen her sitting nearby but had no idea she was going to perform. I felt very proud to have done this and that I was able to play well. It was certainly a time to remember!”
In 1985 Kevin took a job with the Spirits of Bluegrass who were based in Reading, Pennsylvania. The band was very active and played festivals throughout the East Coast and Midwest. Robin Smith and Doug Bartlett were a part of the band and later Jon Glik joined them on fiddle. Their gigs were mostly on the weekends so on Wednesday nights Kevin played with the house band at the Sandpiper Inn in Dundalk, Maryland. Jimmy Gaudreau was often a part of the band when he had time off from playing with the Tony Rice Unit. Kevin and Jimmy formed a close friendship during this time.
In the summer of 1987 Jimmy Gaudreau put together a band for a European tour that he had set up. Kevin was recruited to play banjo along with Wyatt Rice on guitar and Warren Blair on fiddle. They met at the Birchmere, a music venue in Northern Virginia, to rehearse and shortly thereafter went to Ed Wilson’s home studio in Warrenton, Virginia to produce a cassette recording. The band really clicked and Kevin remembers that only two songs had to be re-done. The cassette was professionally packaged and 500 copies were shipped to Paris for sale during their tour. The month-long gig was very successful and all but two of the cassettes were sold. There is some really great music on it and Jimmy has arranged for this recording to be reissued on a CD which is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2023 on Art Wachter’s SongSide label.
Kevin recalls “The tour started in October, 1987 and in 30 days we played almost every day and visited six countries. Two weeks after I returned from Europe, Bill Yates called and asked if I would take a job playing banjo with the Country Gentlemen. I told Bill that I would get back to him because there was talk of keeping the overseas band together, The Bluegrass Unit, because we sounded like the Bluegrass Album Band and they had been very successful touring. I talked this over with Jimmy and he advised me to take the job because Wyatt would probably want to stay with his brother Tony. I called Bill and told him I would love to play with the Gentlemen. I was hired and met with Bill and was handed a bag of cassettes and told that we were playing on Thursday and for me to learn everything on the cassettes that had a check mark. There were about 40 songs so this kept me totally consumed for the next two days. Norman Wright was the mandolin player with the Gentlemenand we were friends so I went to him for help.”
Kevin stayed with the Country Gentlemen for more than four years. He enjoyed his time with them and said it was the most money he ever made playing music. The band was paid a salary whether they played or not. There was one period with no gigs for two months but everyone still received their weekly paycheck. They played throughout the United States and on one trip they were gone for a month with gigs across the country ending up in San Diego, California. At the end of this tour they had to drive from California to South Carolina in three days for a Thursday date at the Myrtle Beach Thanksgiving Festival.
Kevin left the Country Gentlemen in September, 1991 and Norman Wright resigned the same day. Kevin and Norman formed a music partnership that continues to this day. It is interesting to note that Porter and Kevin Church are the only father and son to have played with the Country Gentlemen. In 2009 Kevin joined the Country Gentlemen Tribute Band and played with them for three years and recorded one album with them titled Volume 2.
The partnership with Norman started out as the Norman Wright-Kevin Church Bandand later they came up with the name The Travelers. The band typically plays 30 or 4o dates a year in addition to playing occasional gigs at area night spots.
The human interest part of this story is the relationship between father and son. They were very close and shared a deep love and affection. As a youngster Kevin remembers going to festivals with his dad or just riding together in the car where there would be hours of long conversations about life and music. Kevin has traveled throughout the country as a musician and on many occasions at festivals fans have approached him and recognized him as Porter’s son. After Porter retired from active playing he supported Kevin’s music career in every way possible, and when Porter became terminally ill with brain cancer many touching and emotional times occurred.
When Porter was recovering from surgery at the University of Virginia hospital, The Travelers played a show in Charlottesville for the Piedmont Fiddle and Banjo Association. Kevin was able to have his dad released from the hospital to attend the show and the club honored him in recognition of his 40 year contribution to bluegrass music. Porter was able to play his banjo at the event and his performance brought the house down. This was after two major brain surgeries and Norman Wright commented, “I just can’t believe a man that has had his head cut open twice can still play like that.”
Kevin said “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. Near the end of his life he was transferred to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was with him and could tell that he was nearing the end. I was preparing to fly to California to play bass with the Fox Family and before going to Dulles for the flight I asked my mom what I should do. I just didn’t know if I should go. She said ‘Kevin, you’re a musician and your dad would want you to go.’ So I went, but there was a layover in St. Louis and as soon as I arrived I called the hospital. The nurse on duty answered the phone and told me I needed to come home. She said that he won’t be around after my shift ends. I ran up stairs to the ticket counter and was able to get a compassion flight home. And before my flight home I again called the hospital and was told that he had passed away. On the way home to Fredericksburg from Dulles Airport I drove for quite a few miles without having the radio on. After about an hour I tuned into WAMU-FM and the first song that I heard was “Send Me Your Address In Heaven” by Red Allen with dad playing banjo. Up to this time I had not been able to shed a tear but when I heard this I pulled the car off of the road and I just lost it. I feel blessed that I have the means to listen to him on record and watch videos of him playing.”
There is one final story that illustrates an act of amazing kindness and the high esteem Porter enjoyed. Porter’s banjo was a Gibson RB4 from 1928. It was the banjo he played throughout his career and it was used to record the Red Allen albums and Kevin played it during his time with the Country Gentlemen. Kevin’s mother suggested on several occasions that he should sell the banjo because the money would be very helpful. Kevin finally agreed and sold the banjo to a friend, Mike Hess, who owned a gold and silver pawn shop. It was agreed that Kevin would be consulted prior to him re-selling it. There was some interest by prospective buyers but no sale was made. In June of 2022, Mike passed away and his son Jeremy called Kevin and said “My dad had a banjo at the shop that he bought from you.” When Kevin replied that yes it was his dad’s banjo he was told “Come and get it” and the banjo was gifted back to Kevin. Because of the history of the banjo and the relationship with his dad, Kevin will have this banjo on his chest when he is laid to rest.
Both Father and Son, Porter and Kevin, have played an important part of history with their musicianship and have left a memorable legacy in the world of bluegrass. Hopefully there will soon be an effort by the bluegrass community to enshrine Porter into the IBMA and the Bluegrass Museum Hall of Fame.
