Larry
Bulaich Wilder and the Stumptown Stars
are here to entertain! Engaging and
fun show to fit your community concert,
school, festival, party, fund-raiser,
cultural symposium, fair, corporate
event, club, pub or wedding. Available
as duo, trio, quartet or more, this
dynamic group plays the finest music
in its genre. Hot bluegrass, cowboy,
folk, roots featuring fancy and harmony
yodeling! The Stumptown Stars of Portland,
OR have won awards with their solid,
tasty and lightning acoustic instrumentals
on guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and
bass.
Portland,
Oregon's own Stumptown Stars can enrich
your cultural event with workshops: instrument
building; vocal harmony; instrument playing;
yodeling; Americana Music History and
Appreciation. Join the fun, sing along,
and don’t hesitate to make requests
from our playlist of hundreds of songs.
Gospel shows are solo
up to quintet--tailored to suit the event.
Hymns and spirituals are common threads
in our Americana music counterpane. They
make for wonderful community singing.
Just as the Americana
Trio weaves hymns into the performance,
our bluegrass band, the Stumptown Stars,
routinely features quartet singing and
can do an all gospel shows.
Some tunes that I enjoy:
Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Master’s
Bouquet, What a Friend, Old Gospel Ship,
Turn the Radio On, Lonesome Valley, Bound
for Glory, Life’s Railway to Heaven,
Healing Waters, and Daddy Sang Bass.
Cowboy songwriters have
often touched upon spiritual themes. Bob
Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers wrote
song after song that connected the West
with an awe of the Great Spirit that created
the beautiful scenes of mountains, canyons,
prairies, stars, water, sky, moon and
sun. As a young man, Bob had been a night
herding cowboy who would convey brilliantly
his love and awe of nature in timeless
song.
When the touring quartets
came to our church, I would always sit
in the front row to be close to the action.
I dreamed that someday I would tackle
singing the great spiritual songs in my
own quartet.
Bill Monroe, Stanley
Brothers, Elvis, Country Gentlemen and
Flatt & Scruggs were my strongest
bluegrass gospel inspirations. In the
old days, there were many top Black Gospel
quartets and quintets. To me, groups like
the Swan Silvertones, the Golden Gate
Quartet, the Staples Singers, the Mighty
Trumpeteers, and the Dixie Hummingbirds
were incredible in their intonation, arrangements
and wonderful timing. Black Gospel is
the most influential vocal music across
many Americana genres.
I walk, hike or work
out in the outdoors nearly every day of
the year. It is easy to connect our majestic
Western landscapes to our Higher Power.
Songs
- Partial mixed listing of bluegrass,
cowboy, folk, gospel and yodeling music.
Some
Americana Favorites:
I’ve Been Everywhere (featuring
OR & WA places)
This Land Is Your Land
Country Roads
Goodnight Irene
Gentle On My Mind
Chime Bells (yodeling tour-de-force)
I’m My Own Granpaw
Jambalaya
Waiting for a Train (blue yodel)
Wabash Cannonball
The Auctioneer
Pistol Packin’ Mama
Cattle Call (cowboy yodel)
Ramblin’ Man
Roll On, Columbia
Freight Train
Tennessee Waltz
Thunder Road
Red River Valley
El Paso
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Oh Susanna
Don’t Fence Me In
Down in the Valley
She’ll Be Comin’
Round the Mountain
Old MacDonald’s Farm
Y’all Come!
Rocky Top
“Oh Brother,
Where Art Thou?”
Man of Constant Sorrow
You Are My Sunshine
Goin’ Down to the River
to Pray
Keep On the Sunny Side
Lonesome Valley
Carter Family
Keep On the Sunny Side
No Hiding Place
Wildwood Flower
Old Gospel Ship
Thinking Tonight of My Blue
Eyes
Cryin’ Holy
You Got to Walk That Lonesome
Valley
Jimmy Brown the Newsboy
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Kingston Trio
MTA
Tom Dooley
Sloop John B
Worried Man
Scotch & Soda
Hard Ain’t It Hard
Where Have All the Flowers
Gone?
Hank Williams
Jambalaya
I Saw the Light
Hey Good Lookin’
Your Cheatin’ Heart
So Lonesome I Could Cry
Sons of the Pioneers
Way Out There (harmony yodel)
Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds
Cool Water
Hold That Critter Down (yodel)
Timber Trail
Happy Rovin’ Cowboy
(yodel)
Stanley Brothers
Say You’ll Be Mine
How Mountain Gals Can Love
Long Journey Home
Midnight Train
Paul & Silas
Grateful Dead
Friend of the Devil
Lonesome Road Blues
Rider
More Folk Tunes
Fair and Tender Ladies
Last Thing on My Mind
Paradise
Banks of the Ohio
Midnight Special
Careless Love
Puff the Magic Dragon
Don’t Think Twice
Ride Me Down Easy
Gold Watch & Chain
Gotta Travel On
Amelia Earhart
Jamaica Farewell
Hey Li-lee
Appalachian Tunes
Rabbit in the Log
New River Train
Mountain Dew
Fox on the Run
Rocky Top
Sweet Kentucky Girl
Bluebirds Are Singin’
for Me
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
Jimmy Brown the Newsboy
Old Home Place
More Cowboy Tunes
When the Bloom is on the Sage
Homeward Trail
Oregon Trails
Don’t Fence Me In
Texas Plains
A Cowboy Song
Red River Valley
Cattle Call
Streets of Laredo
Home on the Range
Pinto Pal
Gene Autry
Back in the Saddle Again
Silver Haired Daddy
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Flatt & Scruggs
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Ballad of Jed Clampett
Roll in My Sweet Baby’s
Arms
Salty Dog Blues
Rueben’s Train
Little Girl in Tennessee
Cabin in Caroline
Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Preachin’ Prayin’
Singin’
Flint Hill Special
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
Rough and Rocky
Hot Corn, Cold Corn
Wonder Where You Are Tonight
No Mother or Dad
Home Sweet Home
Your Love is Like a Flower
Johnny Cash
Folsom Prison Blues
Hey Porter
I Got Stripes
I Still Miss Someone
Big River
Daddy Sang Bass
Flesh and Blood
Forty Shades of Green
Bill Monroe
Blue Moon of Kentucky
Raw Hide
In the Pines
Muleskinner Blues
On and On
Rose of Old Kentucky
Uncle Pen
Little Cabin Home on the Hill
Will You Be Lovin’ Another
Man?
On My Way Back to the Old
Home
Kentucky Waltz
Blue Grass Breakdown
Merle Haggard
Lonesome Fugitive
Mama Tried
Silver Wings
Sing Me Back Home
Bob Wills
San Antonio Rose
Faded Love
Roly Poly
Silver Bell
Take Me Back to Tulsa
Gospel and Spiritual
Songs
Life’s Railway to Heaven
Turn the Radio On
Daddy Sang Bass
Old Gospel Ship
Cryin’ Holy Unto the
Lord
Amazing Grace
I’ll Fly Away
Great Gettin’ Up Time
No Hiding Place
Wicked Path of Sin
Healing Waters
This Train is Bound for Glory
Master’s Bouquet
What a Friend
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Jesus Cowboy (fancy yodel)
Saints Go Marching In
Gordon Lightfoot
Sundown
Alberta Bound
Did She Mention My Name?
Song for a Winter’s
Night
Don Quixote
Second Cup of Coffee
Canadian Railway Trilogy
More Country Tunes
Golden Rocket
Four Walls
Abilene
Blue Eyes Cryin’ in
the Rain
He’ll Have to Go
When My Blue Moon Turns to
Gold
Jealous Heart
Please Release Me
Born to Lose
Kansas City
Waiting for a Train
King of the Road
Have I Told You Lately That
I Love You?
Walkin’ the Floor Over
You
Waltz Across Texas
Instrumentals-Fiddle
Tunes
Orange Blossom Special
Old Joe Clark
Salt Creek
Soldier’s Joy
Angeline the Baker
Golden Slippers
Redwing
Black Mountain Rag
Arkansas Traveler
Boil the Cabbage Down
Banjo Tunes
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Duelin’ Banjo
Train 45
Stumptown Twist
Banjo Rock-n-Roll
Home Sweet Home
Cripple Creek
Banjo in the Hollow
Turkey Knob
Irish Tunes
Walk In the Irish Rain
The Cuckoo
Mason’s Apron
Devil’s Dream
Danny Boy
“Songs of the Spirit”
(January 2007) presents family favorites
of our family such as Life’s Railway
to Heaven, What A Friend, In the Garden
and the delightfully playful kickoff tune:
Turn the Radio On.
I was honored that the legendary Rose
Maddox sang with me one of her trademark
tunes, Gathering Flowers for the Master’s
Bouquet. This cut from December of 1997
was the last studio appearance for my
dear friend Rose; she was called shortly
after to bloom most radiantly in the Master’s
Bouquet.
It is especially gratifying that my daughter
Rachael Simpson graced several tunes with
her viola and her brother Nolan Bronson
sang lead on Daddy Sang Bass.
A real favorite of audiences is Jesus
Cowboy, a tune I learned from Reverend
John Martin down Ventura way—talk
about inspirational people! I held the
yodeling reins pretty tight on this one;
in person I let it fly.
You will find a couple of original tunes.
There is the Black Gospel rooted
Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’ with
the Stumptown Stars Quartet. Healing Waters
is a contemplative hymn that challenges
us to feel the empowerment of the beckoning
Great Spirit.
Larry
Bulaich Wilder - Banjo, Guitar,
Lead/Harmony Vocals, Yodeler
5 string banjo and guitar,
arranger, lead and harmony
vocals. Duo with son Nolan.
Larry Bulaich Wilder grew
up and began playing music
in Burbank, California.
Inspirations: Flatt &
Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Carter
Family, Kingston Trio, Bill
Monroe, Woody Guthrie, Hazel
Dickens, Gene Autry, Sons
of the Pioneers, many gospel
groups.
Opened for and shared
stages with Willie Nelson,
Bonnie Raitt, Oak Ridge
Boys, Doc Watson, John Hartford,
Alison Krauss, Riders in
the Sky, Rose Maddox, Ralph
Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Tiny
Tim, Bill Monroe, Trisha
Yearwood, Pete Seeger.
1975-78: worked with Stuart
Duncan in Pain In The Grass
and Gold Rush, the latter
group including Alison Brown
[later of Alison Krauss’s
band]. Stuart’s fiddle
is heard in “Cold
Mountain” and “Oh
Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Knott’s Berry Farm’s
“Western Troubadour”
(1976-1981). Leader of Americana
musical revue for Knott’s
Japan Tour (1980). Larry’s
biggest thrill at Knott’s
was spending time with Earl
Scruggs and picking Earl’s
famous banjo backstage.
1981. Left hometown of
Burbank, California. Moved
to Oregon. Featured as soloist
and in bands at fairs, concerts,
river trips, rodeos, ranches,
trail rides.
Foxfire band: 1985-98.
Concert tours U. S. (1993)
and Europe (1998). Larry
remembers: “Jeff,
Bob, Leonard, Glenn and
I broke some new ground
in bluegrass and had a blast
doing it. We are eternally
grateful to the wonderful
people who supported us
all those years.”
1997. Cited in America’s
Music: Bluegrass by Barry
Willis. Larry is profiled
as a moving force in Southern
California bluegrass, with
early bandmates Stuart Duncan,
Alison Brown, Geoff Stelling
and John Hickman.
2002-2006: member of Déjà
Blue and Columbia Cutups.
2007: STUMPTOWN STARS
evolve out of the old Columbia
Cutups. Larry says: “We
guarantee top bluegrass-Americana
entertainment! We deliver
a tight show and loads of
fun! Nolan, Chris, Greg,
Marshall and I love our
audiences and play for keeps!
Nolan
Bronson - Guitar, Lead & Harmony
Vocals & Yodels
Born in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Moved to the Portland area
in 1998.
Inspired to pick up the
guitar by Johnny Cash, Nolan
has quickly become one of
Oregon’s most loved
bluegrass singers and emcees.
Plays flat-pick rhythm
and lead along with fingerstyle
guitar breaks.
Sings most of the band’s
tenor parts. Yodels in harmony
with his dad Larry.
Studies writing, acting
and music at the Arts Magnet
Academy in Beaverton, Oregon.
Nolan Bronson brings youth
and fresh ideas to the band.
While he likes to help drive
the band with his rhythm
guitar, he also offers soulful,
evocative renditions of
ballads from traditional
sources along with Johnny
Cash, Gordon Lightfoot and
the Eagles. Nolan’s
finger-style guitar shows
innovation, catchy licks
and complexity that boggle
the ear.
He plays a Martin D-16 guitar
that has been modified by
Todd Mylet of Portland Fretworks.
With strong interests in
history, writing, reading
economics and vocal music,
Nolan is concentrating on
becoming an accomplished
actor, having already worked
under the direction of David
Ogden Stiers—Colonel
Winchester of M*A*S*H. Nolan
is a senior at the Arts
Magnet Academy in Beaverton.
Dazzling fiddler Andy
Emert is devoted to musical
excellence whether playing,
instructing his students,
or judging contests such
as the national fiddle championships
in Wieser, Idaho. His fiddle
playing is superlative,
engaging all with his inspired
stylings and command. With
the silky smooth tones of
his singing voice, Andy
helps create the unique
and compelling vocal blend.
His quick wit is also fun
to experience—on and
off stage.
A member of the Guild of
American Luthiers, he repairs
and cares for instruments
at Kerr Violins. Andy resides
in Portland with his wife
Sola and delightful twin
boys Alexander and Sam.
Bassist Gretchen Amann
has always loved sharing
the joy of music and song
with others. She brings
solid bass work, authentic
vocal style and engaging
personality to the Stumptown
Stars show. Well known in
Portland acoustic circles,
her warm, friendly voice
is heard on KBOO public
radio bluegrass and folk
shows. Gretchen’s
widely acknowledged depth
and background in Americana
music make her an especially
valuable band member.
Having opened for Uncle
Earl, Mike Seeger, and the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Gretchen has also entertained
for Alzheimer’s homes,
family picnics, and with
street musicians throughout
the world. She thumps an
Englehart bass and plucks
a Stelling banjo.
Mandolinist Garrett Maass
brings drive and a unique
creativity to the Stumptown
Stars. His inspired stylings,
lightning brilliance and
interactions on the strings
always keep our bluegrass
tunes fun and ever evolving
with inspired fluid breaks.
A true Renaissance man,
Garrett brings intelligence,
depth, and originality to
all his engagements.
His favorite mandolin players
are David Grisman, Sam Bush,
Chris Thiele, Andy Statman,
Peter Ostroushko, Adam Steffey,
and John Reischman. Garrett
plays a Lebeda Premium F
(2000) mandolin, a Santa
Cruz Vintage D Dreadnought
guitar and a 1950’s
vintage Kay bass. His interests
beyond music are cooking,
and gardening, and yoga.
Fresh Tracks Studio www.freshtracksstudio.com
John's cutting edge technology, patient
guidance, and unerringly accurate ear
have helped us all in our recording
projects.
Larry
Bulaich Wilder and the Stumptown Stars
are here to entertain! Engaging and
fun show to fit your community concert,
school, festival, party, fund-raiser,
cultural symposium, fair, corporate
event, club, pub or wedding. Available
as duo, trio, quartet or more, this
dynamic group plays the finest music
in its genre. Hot bluegrass, cowboy,
folk, roots featuring fancy and harmony
yodeling! The Stumptown Stars of Portland,
OR have won awards with their solid,
tasty and lightning acoustic instrumentals
on guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and
bass. 
