What began back in 1972 as a bunch of California hippie kids playing music for the fun of it, the Cache Valley Drifters have been bringing a modern outlook to bluegrass and country music for over three-and-a-half decades. Although they disbanded from 1985 to 1993, a period the band describes as "eight years off for good behavior", the Cache Valley Drifters (pronounced "cash") have been steadily making up for lost time. Their performances are as likely to include bluegrass interpretations of songs by Paul Simon, Etta James and Cream as they are to feature tunes by the late country folk-singer Kate Wolf and traditional fiddle music. CVD's association with Wolf is natural considering that the band's longest-standing member, BILL GRIFFIN (mandolin, guitar & vocals), toured for many years as her bass player. He produced and was responsible for the musical arrangements on many of Wolf's recordings including her last and much heralded CD POETS HEART (Awarded NAIRD Best Folk Album of 1986). Griffin had previously been a sideman on albums that included artists such as Earl Robinson, Tony Rice, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Mike Auldridge, Norton Buffalo, and a series of national radio spots with the late Burl Ives. In recent years Bill has appeared at several festival and concert dates and on CD with his good friend Greg Brown. He now calls Hawaii home where he is the manager / Master Luthier of Kanile'a Ukulele Co. on O'ahu. His love of Hawaiian music has led him to create the Mandolele, a mandolin/ukulele hybrid (click on MANDOLELE below). He plays with Hawaii's premier bluegrass band the Saloon Pilots as well as Hawaiian music with his good friend Walt Keale. MIKE MULLINS (guitar, mandolin & vocals), CVD's resident songwriter, was invited to join the group in 1993. Mike has been active in acoustic music since the early 1980s when he played guitar in the Phil Salazar Band (also produced by Griffin). In 1990, Mike teamed up with former Cache Valley Drifter Cyrus Clarke as a member of the Acousticats, a post he held until joining CVD in '93. WALLY BARNICK (bass & vocals), who played with CVD from 1975 to 1979, rejoined the group with their re-formation in 1993. An excellent vocalist and bass player, Wally also spent two years with Bluegrass Etc. The Cache Valley Drifters have had a more varied performance history than most bands in Acoustic Music. They have shared concert and festival stages with artists such as Doc and Merle Watson, Newgrass Revival, Stephane Grappelli, David Grisman, Alison Krauss, etc but also with artists you most likely wouldn't expect: The Allman Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat, Willie Nelson, Ricky Nelson, Emmylou, etc. They had the honor of playing the 1978 Los Angeles wedding reception for Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash. Building a reputation early on for their rich vocal harmonies and virtuoso musicianship, the Cache Valley Drifters were encouraged by the support they received from bluegrass greats Byron Berline, Dan Crary and John Hickman after a chance meeting in Nashville in 1976. The three had just formed BCH Productions and CVD became their first project. The self-titled LP THE CACHE VALLEY DRIFTERS was released on Flying Fish Records in 1978. The band would go on to record two more LPs for Flying Fish (STEP UP TO BIG PAY and TOOLS OF THE TRADE) before disbanding in 1985. In 1993 CVD reformed and with the release of WHITE ROOM on CMH Records in 1995 (joined by guest artist John McFee of the Doobie Brothers) the band was officially back. In 1998 the band formed their own label, MightyFine Records. The resulting CD, MIGHTYFINE.NET (CVD's personal favorite), was released the following year and featured their good friend DENNIS CAPLINGER (Bluegrass Etc.) on fiddle, banjo and dobro. WHITE ROOM and MIGHTYFINE.NET were subsequently released in Europe on the German label Taxim Records resulting in several European performances by CVD. In 2000 the band received an out-of-the-blue honor when their 1980 version of "Cumberland Blues" was picked by the Grateful Dead to be the first cut on STOLEN ROSES (Grateful Dead Records), a collection of the Dead's favorite covers of Dead songs by other groups. Included were such diverse artists as Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, the Persuasions, the Stanford University Marching Band and the David Grisman Quintet. Today the Drifters have come full-circle as they are once again playing just for the fun of it. Their philosophy and agreement between themselves: when it stops being fun, that'll be the end of the ride. Hopefully, that won't be happening anytime soon. As they will tell you, it's all about the joy they've found in their music, their friendship with each other and, most importantly, the connection they share with their audiences everywhere.
