THE MUSICIANS

If keeping with the traditional acoustic instruments which make up the core of the Bluegrass genre - Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, upright 'doghouse' Bass, and Fiddle -  is your thing, Calabogie Road checks those boxes.  All the band members are fluent with their primary instruments, and most are multi-instrumentalists.  Read on, below, to learn more about Marten, Ian, Ruth, Mark and John.

 I am an immigrant from the Netherlands, a 'real' Hollander, coming to the USA when I was almost 5 years old. In 1962, at age 10, my parents - especially my Dad - thought it would be a “...dream come true” if I, his eldest son, learned to play the violin. It would be proof to all the relatives back in the Netherlands that things were going well for us…I'd be studying the violin!  Dad had a great feel for music and we three boys all had to first learn to play the harmonica!  (My sister somehow got out of this!)  My training was classical, but Dad added a twist. I'd have to play along with the local Gospel radio station and improvise on the tune, in whatever key it was played in, even if it was in between keys, and all without sheet music in front of me!

I played all through High School, as well as several years in the orchestra at Calvin College, where I was a student. I did cause some immense pain to my orchestra Professor at Calvin when several of us were given a chance to play a genuine Stradivarius and I played “Yackity Sax” instead of something from Beethoven!  I continued with mostly classical music, in various groups and also performing in weddings and at Church, I started feeling an urge to play a different style of music.

In 1999 I met a young high school student, Luke Lenhart, who is a most gifted bluegrass instrumentalist!  He coached me in the fine art of how to play bluegrass style. I traded my violin for a fiddle! I played with Luke's band for many years and now have the privilege of being part of the Calabogie Road Bluegrass Band.

My wife Dianne and I have three wonderful sons, three wonderful daughter–in–laws, and eight fantastic grand children! After I retired from my job as a P. O. With the Dept. of Corrections I opened up a coffeehouse, Mocha–N–Music, where over 2,700 music events were played! Now that the coffeehouse is closed, I get to play even more music!
 

    Ian Tronsen is a young and very talented banjo player who we'd seen at a number of WMBMA jams, and twisted his arm to join all us 'seasoned citizens' and become a member of Calabogie Road. He is very accomplished and polished, having filled in with a number of area bands - including Gravel Ridge. Ian combines a traditional Earl Scruggs style of playing with tasteful 'contemporary chromatic' licks.  He definitely brings the the average age of the band down, and he was as excited to be a part of Calabogie Road as we were to have him!  In addition to his stellar banjo picking, he also is a fine singer and guitar player. You'll often  hear him doing some great versions of old Merle Haggard and Tom T. Hall tunes as part of our shows, as well as some fine banjo instrumentals he's composed.  We're always amazed at his talent, versatility and enthusiasm.

Mark grew up surrounded by music in the little town of Dutton, Michigan, and had been a 'closet musician' most of his life. His Dad used to play guitar and mandolin and there was always music playing on the radio in the kitchen or on an old record player out in the living room. 

When he was 10 or so, his folks sent him to a guitar teacher for lessons. After three weeks he called them and said, "Don’t bother wasting any more of your money on lessons for Mark; he’ll never be able to play guitar with his tiny fingers and small hands."

He took up the guitar again as a freshman in High School, listening to Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor records - playing along with them on an old warped guitar that had been in the attic of their house. He bought a second-hand guitar from a pawn shop and continued to play through the rest of his high-school years, mostly finger-picking in the Croce, Lightfoot and Taylor styles. After graduation he bought his first "good" guitar - a Hohner HG320 limited-edition flattop dreadnaught, and plays that guitar to this day.

After hanging out with his 2nd cousins Rick and Dave Williams (of the Williams Family Bluegrass Band) he learned to play some banjo and flat-pick and strum bluegrass rhythm.  He bought an inexpensive mandolin about 15 years ago and taught himself to play that as well, and eventually bought a custom-made Silver Angel mandolin - which is always with him at Calabogie Road events.

He and his wife of 44 years - Julie - have lived just south of Dorr, Michigan since 1982 in a 120-year old farm house, where they raised two children, a daughter and a son. 

When not hunting and fishing or playing music, he and his wife enjoy camping, and at least one of his instruments accompanies them on those trips!

Thanks for checking into and learning about our band.  We're so looking forward to meeting and playing for you sometime soon!  Be safe and warm - and never grow old!