Dave Dahl spent his early years in Montana and is currently a practicing Music Therapist at Oregon State Hospital. Dave has played banjo and guitar for more than 20 years. He is also a highly accomplished pianist. Dave wrote and arranged many of the songs on the band's first CD These Days.
Bob Rindy the most recent addition to Mollybloom, has played violin in symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles, and in several folk and rock bands in Salem over the past 20 years. Classically trained on the violin since childhood, Bob performs a range of fiddle styles, including bluegrass, Celtic, folk and blues.
Ron Relaford a massage therapist and music teacher, has played and taught mandolin, banjo, and guitar for over 30 years. As a mandolin player, Ron has performed with Celtic, Blues, and folk groups. His varied music background even includes African drumming.
Clark Blanchard is a public school music teacher in Silverton, Oregon. He has performed in local bands since 1963. Clark began his music career as a piano and guitar player in the 1970's. Clark then turned to playing electric bass and singing while making a living playing Pop, Rock, and Jazz in the Portland area.
Randy White is the most recent member joining Molly Bloom on Banjo and guitar. Growing up in Huntington Beach, CA he started playing guitar at the age of 9. He started playing bluegrass banjo at age 13 and quickly formed his first bluegrass band "White Lightning".He also plays Mandolin, Dobro, Pedal Steel and Bass.
Thursday, September 21st at 8:00, OPB-TV (Channel 10 in Portland) will kick off the new season of Oregon Art Beat with the segment they did on the band. We haven't seen it yet, but vaguely recall saying a bunch of things during the taping that we'll probably regret. If you happen to enjoy the piece on the band, be sure to let OPB know. I think they appreciate the feedback. If you don't enjoy the segment, the program repeats on Sunday and maybe it'll seem better on the weekend.
The most common question posed to Mollybloom is, "Where did the name come from?"
We could respond that Molly Bloom was a complicated and misunderstood character created by the writer James Joyce. However, as a bluegrass band we've found that much of our audience is unaware of the existence of this particular Molly and those who are, are quick to point out her moral short comings.
We have also let it be widely known that we were once Molly's backup band. Since Molly is currently incarcerated, we have been playing on our own without her. With good behavior, she should be rejoining the band in another 5 to 10 years.
Another story goes that Molly isn't really in jail, she just changed her name - to Britney Spears. Here again, we expect her to rejoin the band in another 5 to 10 years.
The least interesting story is that many years ago an unamed fledgling bluegrass band needed to come up with a name for their first gig. The banjo player at the time used the name of one of his favorite Alan Munde tunes: Molly Bloom. Since we don't even play this song...this one couldn't be true.
Mollybloom formed in 1995 and is made up of a cohesive and talented group of musicians. The five band members; Dave Dahl, Ron Relaford, Clark Blanchard, Bob Rindy, and Randy White bring with them diverse musical backgrounds. Priding themselves on tight instrumental and vocal arrangements of original and cover material, Molly Bloom has developed a fresh bluegrass sound that is being well received throughout Oregon and Washington.
Hey there, thanks for the new add and friendship, sure do appreciate the support. Stop by when you have a chance and let me know what you think about the music. Also, sign up for our monthly newsletter and sign our guest book if you get the chance, you can also subscribe to our blog, I send post one when I have something to say and usually they are pretty good! :) Please know that we are praying for you and if you have a special prayer request, shoot me an email and we will pray directly for that need. Have an awesome day today and stay in touch.
Hey! You've gotta come listen to the song Miss Difficult on our page! Please comment us to tell us what you think of it. Thank you for your support & for helping to spread the word about Cowboy Crush! www.cowboycrush.com
Howdy! Thanks for adding us. Hope to see you sometime at one of the Northwest Bluegrass Festivals or events! We were at Darrington (in the rain) so did not get a chance to catch the Bainbridge show. Keep on pickin'!!!! Julie
Hi! :-) Thanks for adding me! I've uploaded some new pictures and a live version of "Lay Them Down" from the cd release concert at the Triple Door here in Seattle last week. Enjoy! xoxo
Hey there! Thanks for the comment! I enjoyed listening to your music...being a fellow musician myself-I can appreciate the time and effort. Keep up the great work! Good luck to you! Oh..and keep in touch too. ; )
thanks for the add! Make sure you sign up on the newsletter list at http://www.brentmason.com/products_frame.htm so you can get the latest updates and free stuff! :)
I like your fine banjoey sound. A big old thank you to you for finding some room in this terrible place for me and my musical confederates. It's good to meet you...
Thanks so much for the add! It's always nice to see bands from the same neighborhood using MySpace to help get the word out about their music! We're looking forward to hearing your new configuration and hope to play a show with you somewhere along the road this summer!
Welcome, Molly Bloom - We're pretty new to MySpace, too. Thanks for finding us. It was good to hear your audio clips & read about changes happening in your band. I also got a big kick out of learning that Dave is a music therapist. I'm a former music therapist (I've met more former music therapists & former accordion players than current ones!) though I've been a group therapist @ Adventist Med. Ctr. for the past several years. Maybe someday Dave & I can do some kind of bluegrass duet at a MT conference!
Best wishes - April
