LASSITER BLUEGRASS COLUMN . . . . . . . . . .
Every time the group takes the stage for a performance, The Lassiter Family of Jonesboro pays homage to its familial and musical antecedents. The former is a bloodline whose countless generations are intertwined by tradition, a respect for the past and a love of place. The latter has roots that run deeper than the nation’s, when settlers of Scots-Irish ancestry brought to the peaks and valleys of Appalachia a unique, melodic, improvisatory form of music that ultimately came to be known as bluegrass.
When Kayleene, Jason and Faris Lassiter gather to play the music they’ve loved since childhood, they make no secret of the fact that their past isn’t any such thing. Who and what came before them are right there, on the stage with them, models of inspiration, the soul of a music with timeless roots. Their past is embodied in the storied lyrics they sing, as well as imbued with new life in the still-fresh melodies and harmonies that, years ago, were writ large in very first American songbook.
The group has recorded a new CD whose title speaks volumes regarding what the three hold close to the bone. The tracks on “Wise Traditions” emanate from the deep recesses of each musician’s being, the brothers Jason and Faris Lassiter said in an interview. The very first selection “Shorty’s Cut,” a medley of three songs, was named in honor of the trio’s grandfather, the banjoist Jessie “Shorty” Wise.
“We began our musical interests late in life,” Faris Lassiter said, “even tough there is a vast lineage of musicians within both sides of our family. Our mother, Jessie Marie Lassiter, played the guitar with our grandfather, ‘Shorty’, who played fiddle and banjo for square dances and the barn dances that used to be so popular.” Grandmother Sarvie Marie Wise was also musically inclined, as were numerous aunts and uncles.
As Faris explained with a grin, “We got interested in playing bluegrass at an age when our individual families were already started and we quit running around.”
Younger by one year than his brother Jason, Faris looked back at the group’s beginnings. “Jason decided to play the banjo and took to it like a duck to water. He was a natural. I then obtained a guitar to play rhythm with him…to help with the timing. Next, our sister picked up the bass and the three of us began jamming and with ourselves and other musicians in the area. Before we knew it,” he said, “we’d form a group, Crowley’s Ridge Bluegrass, which consisted of five members. For a time we played many local festivals and other venues for approximately five years.” Although the Lassiters enjoyed working as three-fifths of the quintet, the logistics of maintaining the group became too demanding and time-consuming. “With five different lives going different places at different times, it became hard to focus everyone’s attention to the business at hand,” Faris said. “That was when we decided to take the music back to our roots…back to the family.”
The group then turned to old friend and rockabilly music legend Larry Donn Gillihan of Bono, who, as it turned out, would produce the “Wise Traditions” recording. Gillihan, who has spent a lifetime “making” the music he loves, jumped at the chance to record the group for its CD debut.
“Larry Donn commented that it was the only time that he has ever seen or heard of any group recording…24 tunes with one ‘take’ on each,” Faris said. “We attribute this to our playing together every week for the past thirty years….Every time we play, each of us has an endless list of songs that we can perform in any given situation.”
The new recording is getting air play in Jonesboro and elsewhere, Jason Lassiter said, and may be purchased at Hastings Books, Music and Videos on South Caraway Road in Jonesboro. Copies of the recording have also been sent to national radio outlets as well as to recording studios in Nashville and other entities that cater to a uniquely American music.
The band has performed several times in Rosine, Kentucky, birthplace of the legendary bluegrass performer Bill Monroe. Performing in a location where the name Monroe is held in the highest esteem by fans of the music, Jason Lassiter said, was “an honor and a privilege.” Although by nature somewhat self-effacing, Jason, along with his younger brother, did note that their music was received with acclaim and enthusiasm by bluegrass lovers who take their music every bit as seriously as those diehard fans of classical, jazz, blues and rock and roll.
And when it comes to being serious about his music, Jason admitted that he traveled all the way to San Francisco to pick up his new banjo, a Gibson-made Checkerboard Classic whose design harkens back to the days of the Great Depression. While what he paid for the instrument will remain his business, the price may be taken as proof-positive that he’s a Lassiter who’s willing to part with a serious number of greenbacks for the music he loves.
As is the case for so many talented musicians in Jonesboro and throughout the area, the Lassiters are well acquainted with the vagaries and pitfalls that are inherent in the music business. Making a living as a professional musician can be a tough road to hold, not to mention a life that may be fraught with unending complications as well as risks to one’s mental and physical health.
“We’ve always had to pursue ‘day gigs’ to help make ends meet,” Faris said. “But as long as we have the time and opportunities to play our music, we’ll be there, doing what we all love to do.”
Keyleene is a retired educator who spent her career in the public schools and at the university level.
Jason, a career sergeant with the Jonesboro Police Department, has been in law enforcement for 24 years. He hopes to retire in the not-too-distant future.
Faris has been with the Xerox corp. in various capacities for 20 years. He currently works for Bob Hamilton of XMC Inc., one of the largest dealerships of Xerox products in the nation.
“Wise Traditions” has garnered a number of good reviews since its release, which producer Gillihan predicted at the project’s outset.
“It’s a pleasure to work with competent musicians on music that moves,” Gillihan wrote recently. “We recorded…the whole project in five hours…due mostly to the band being well-rehearsed and not making a lot of mistakes…like when I record.”
The Lassiter Family’s Website is: http://www.diskfaktoryjams.com/
Editorial by The Jonesboro Occassions Magazine March 2007 |
