Beginnings - "Union Pacific" 1971-72
The Discovery of Three-Part Harmony
From left to right, that's me with Chris Pittman (himself an accomplished musician and songwriter with a number of recorded productions to his credit) and his brother Mike Pittman.
About “Union Pacific”
I have no recollection of why we decided to call ourselves “Union Pacific.” Perhaps we saw a box car going by at a railroad crossing and it evoked vague images of the West Coast, which had an exotic feel for three guys growing up in a southern city. We'd fallen in love with Crosby, Stills, and Nash and had quickly perfected a tight, three part harmony style. We'd also discovered that we could write some pretty good tunes ourselves, and in addition to the many covers of CS&N, we performed our own pieces.
In the picture above, we stand on the steps of the old First Baptist Church building in Charlotte, North Carolina just before our youth choir conducted a “mission trip” to Schenectady, New York. This was prior to the congregation's move to its current building and location. Today, this same old building has been converted into a cool concert and arts venue called “Spirit Square.” In the photo, both Mike and I have Gibson guitars, mine a B-25 sunburst 6-String and Mike has a 12-String almost exactly like the one Gordon Lightfoot displays on his album “Gord's Gold.” Neither of us knew what cool instruments we had and I dearly wish I still had that Six String.
In the picture to the left, Mike, Chris, and I are performing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” at Myers Park High School. Chris and I were both juniors at the time and Mike a senior. I fancied myself the "Stephen Stills" of our trio and Mike played the 12-String with the kind of nuance and finesse that characterized David Crosby. Chris played percussion and sang high harmonies. Later, Chris would find multiple ways of expressing himself musically, from being a top-notch drummer to playing piano and guitar.
College Years - Appalachian State University, 1972-1976
The New Stoney Creek Original String Band - 1972-74 (1978)
left to right: me with, Craig Duncan (bass and vocals), Jerry Nance (lead guitar, piano, vocals) , and Chris Pittman (percussion, piano, guitar, vocals)
Stoney Creek plays big in my memory but in fact, though we opened for several major acts of the time, we had a limited performance resume. The band went through several manifestations, including a prominent set of apperances after I left for Austria in 1976.
Ultimately, we were one of thousands of college bands appearing on campuses all over the country, shining a brief point of light and then fading away, its beauty ephemeral but real.
Theme Park Bluegrass Band -Carowinds 1975-76
The Dawker Mountain Valley Boys - 1975-76
Craig Duncan (violin), John Bird (mandolin), Ed Bobbitt (guitar), me, Bill Lindner (bass), and Jimmy Bird (banjo)
At the same time Stoney Creek seemed to be drying up, I joined the Dawkers, along with Craig Duncan, with whom I'd been a strolling performer at Carowinds during the summer of '74. The gig working with the Dawkers at Carowinds paid my way through ASU beginning in 1975 and lasting through graduation in 1976 and my departure for Austria. These guys will always be my true adult fraternity. I love 'em to this day, even the one who went with the radical right in later years. The photo is from our one album, released in 1976.
We played six shows a day, six days a week during the summer of 1975 and multiple shows on the weekends from Labor Day until the park closed at the end of the autumn. That much performance made us into a very tight, professional ensemble which showed up regularly in park surveys as one of the favorite attractions.
Austrian Sojourn - 1976-78
I arrived in Austria in September of 1976. I took my two guitars at the time with me because I was given the job of operating a youth center for international students, a few thousand of whom studied in Salzburg. Music was, and is, even more the international language than English, so I immediately established a vocal group with a flutist, a Dutch singer, and the occasional participation of other musicians. We called ourselves “Sein,” after the German version of the verb “to be.” Soon, I was performing with the group, and solo, all over Western Europe and in October, 1977, recorded an album in Rome, Italy.
The above photo appeared in the Niederösterreiche Tagblatt (the newspaper of Steyr, Austria) on December 15, 1977.
1980's - 1990's: seminary, pastorates, and other vocational wanderings
After returning to the USA, I entered a 12-year education process that culminated in a PhD in the Psychology of Religion. During that time, I continued to play, including on the psychiatric unit of the university hospital where I did much of my post-grad research. While serving as a pastor and/or as a chaplain, I teamed up with a number of good musician friends and played in a large variety of venues in Virginia, Missouri, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and all over the Southeast. Throw in tours in Europe and Africa.
The photo at the left was taken at an outdoor venue in Nashville, Tennessee in the late ‘90’s.