John Brinegar is a musicologist, musician, lover of Texas music. He is a former member of Texas Bluegrass band "The Backwoods Volunteers", a band with his (now ex) wife Jodi and daughter Suzette.
An article from
JOURNAL OF TEXAS MUSIC HISTORY, VOL. 4, NO. 2 (FALL
2004)
The History of Early Bluegrass in Texas
Rod Moag Alta Campbell
University of Texas at Austin, Professor Emeritus
This paper is posted at eCommons@Texas State University. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/jtmh
"San Antonio is a mere 80 miles from Austin, a distance allowing bluegrass pickers from both cities to easily link up with each other. Dennis McDaniel of Austin became friends with John and Jodi Brinegar, who were instrument collectors in San Antonio. "I was playing a little tenor banjo," John said, "We met Frank Box in the mid-'60s, and he got us started." Box was a Dobro player and collector. Their group, Back Woods Volunteers, included the Brinegars' daughter Suzette on upright bass. From 1971 through 1976, their banjo player was L. Wayne Ross, guitarist in the Poverty Playboys of Kerrville, whom Rod Kennedy booked each year for his Kerrville bluegrass festival. The Back Woods
Volunteers performed at the Steak and Ale, for private parties, occasionally on KMAC radio, and at several fiddle contests. The group made some 45-rpm records, but no LPs. In 1975, the Brinegars divorced, and wife Jodi became leader of the band, thus accounting for the double entry for the group in the Roster of Early Texas Bluegrass Bands. The Back Woods Volunteers survived only a few more years."
John says "We started playing about 1965, after meeting Shandy Hale (who had an old Gibson tenor banjo that he got off a trash truck for 25 cents). A little later we met Frank Box who loved Bluegrass. I was taking tenor banjo lessons from Fred Polansky. I bought a Gibson guitar and bought Jodi (John's ex-wife) a mandolin. Then we switched, I took up mandolin and Jodi took up the guitar. We then bought Suzette (John's daughter) an upright bass. She played with us a few days later at the flea market. Then we met Mike Spraggins and the Harrison brothers - they followed us around. We played the first Texas Folk Life festival in 1968 - (still have our show badges). We began going to all the big bluegrass festivals - Ashville, NC - Mckenny - Played Rod Kennedy's Kerrville festival. We played San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, lots of private parties . I promoted the Lester Flatt concert at Laurie Auditorium -April 26, 1974. We played before and in between Lesters band. Played at Caldwell music -at a little instrument show we helped with. Drove to Oklahoma to pick up a load of great instruments from Neal Penner for the show. When Frank passed away, I bought some of his old Dobros from his widow.
Doc Hamiltom - Betty Jean & Carl Moore (Southside Music ) came to our house, as well as several others, to jam. We met all the big bluegrass stars at the festvals -I have some great unpublised big photos of Bill Monroe & Jimmy Martin.