Lonesome Otis is proud to announce the release of their first CD entitled "Fighting Loneliness".
"Fighting Loneliness" is packed with 16 songs and was recorded and mastered by Eric Uglum at New Wine Studios in Apple Valley, CA. It includes a healthy mixture of traditional, contemporary and gospel bluegrass songs that LO hopes will provide hours of listening enjoyment.
CD's will sell for $15 each. Anyone interested should send an email to lonesomeotis@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Lonesome Otis
..
Chris Ruud: Guitar / Vocals
Singer, songwriter, and guitar man for Lonesome Otis. A musician all his life, but living the bluegrass lifestyle for over 20 years.
Known in the CA Southland as the leader of Crystal River 1991-1996, and The Bluegrass Redliners from 1996-2006. Chris' influences are
Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers. Traditional bluegrass is his favorite but he has also has a love for today's bluegrass.
Chris has years of experience performing at festivals in the western US and also w/ Dolly Bradshaw in The Bluegrass Redliners, who played back
east a number of times. Chris took his time to find the right people and is proud of his new band and the people in it.
Steve Stout: Banjo / Fiddle / Vocals
Steve grew up in southern Utah and began playing violin at the age of 6. Over the next 14 years he studied classical music and
dabbled a bit here and there with a few "fiddle" songs.
At the age of 17 he was selected as 1 of 2 young people to represent the state of Utah in "America's Youth in Concert"
which toured the eastern U.S. and western Europe for 4 weeks.
At the age of 14, he took 5-string banjo lessons for about 1 year.
After two years of college in northern Utah, he gave up a full ride music scholarship to finish school in southern California (to pursue his love of baseball) where he put his violin and banjo in the closet and
there they sat for 18 years.
It was only recently that he found his love for music again and was lucky enough to join forces with
the good folks at Southern Nevada Bluegrass Music Society and SWBA and thus became part of the Horizon Ridge Bluegrass Band.
Steve has been an avid bluegrasser for about 4 years and is now focusing his efforts on Lonesome Otis.
He is married to Rochelle and has three daughters:
Madison; Hailey; and Brianna. He and his family enjoy camping out at festivals and jammin' with their friends. Steve also holds a private pilot's license for helicopters.
Aside from that, he enjoys Jeepin' and Softball.
Chris Cerna: Mandolin / Vocals
Music has always been a part of my life. I started playing piano at the age of five and since then, I have been very fortunate to have been blessed with the gift of being able to make a living doing something that I love the most. I first started playing church music and then added Jazz, Pop and Broadway tunes. At the age of nine, my mom and I move from the Philippines to Hawaii and there I continued my schooling. At the age of thirteen, I got a scholarship to study classical piano and I was able to win several piano competitions. At the age of fifteen, I started recording albums and thanks to my beloved mom who has pass on, I was able to record ten albums within six years.
Bluegrass came into my life around seventh grade when a friend who played violin played a fiddle tune titled Dark Island. It was a slow haunting melody and it made me go out and look for cds of fiddle music. It was then that I heard the banjo and mandolin and then I was given my first mandolin by another friend at church. This mandolin was a bawl-back similar to the potato bug that Bill Monroe first played. Since then I have gone through several mandolins that was suitable for Bluegrass and thanks to a cd titled The Mandolin Extravaganza, I learned a lot of instrumentals.
I played mandolin for High Tide Band, which is my first bluegrass band back in Hawaii and now I am very honored and privileged to be playing with Lonesome Otis. When people ask me, "Why Bluegrass?", for me it's because of the tight harmonies, great instrumentals and meaningful lyrics. I can really relate to the words of the songs.
One thing that I love about Bluegrass is that at Festivals, you get an opportunity to be able to play with your idols. On my first festival at Huckfinn, I had a chance to go up on stage and play with Rhonda Vincent and that was quiet a thrill.
My influences when it comes to Bluegrass are IIIrd Time Out, Lonesome River Band, Bill Monroe, Chris Thile and many others that play Bluegrass the way it should be played.
Dennis Jackson: Bass / Vocals
Dennis grew up loving music as far back as he can remember. He would listen to the country and bluegrass that his
Dad would play on the record player. At the age of six his Mother started him on the piano but practicing wasn't
in the plan, he just wanted to play. So after about two years she gave up and that was the end of his days playing
the piano.
But the love of music was still very strong. When he entered Jr. High School he joined the school orchestra.
His first instrument was the triumph. But never being satisfied he moved on to the french horn, the drums and finely
settled on (of all things) the sousaphone. He played the sousaphone until his Junior year in high school. Along the way
at the age of thirteen he picked up the guitar. When he stared his first band at age fourteen, all other music fell by the
wayside. He was in and out of bands until he joined the army at eighteen.
Hi didn't play much again until he met a person
that soon became his best friend and he played the acoustic guitar. So Dennis went out and got a Martin and started
playing music again. Not much came of it until 1998 when he became reacquainted with bluegrass. He has been totally
into bluegrass for the last eight years playing the guitar, mandolin and now the bass in Lonesome Otis.
Influences
Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jessie, Ralph Stanley, The Osborne Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Doyle Lawson, Del McCoury, The Lonesome River Band
Lonesome Otis is a newly formed band in the Southern California area with its roots strongly planted in traditional bluegrass music. LO is a combination of new and experienced talent and with its ability to provide clean instrumentals and harmonies, is guaranteed to satisfy even the most critical of bluegrass music affectionados.
Hey ya'll...greetings from the gulf coast...Soundin good there boys! Love that name! Thanks for lookin us up and givin' our "delta bluegrass" a listen.
