The James River Bluegrass Band
Welcome!
The James River Bluegrass Band has been together since around the year 2000. Along with family gatherings and social get togethers, we have also performed at numerous festivals and the like. Our style of music is considered bluegrass, but also mixes in a bit of country and other styles.
Bios
Here is a quick recap on the members of the James River Bluegrass Band
Mark Rounds
Mark Rounds hails from the Cavour area just a few miles out of Huron, SD. He has over 40 years of musical experiences playing many different instruments including bass and guitar. He first gained local experience by playing in different groups in the local Catholic churches. He later spent some time in Kingston, Jamaica, where he played with a number of local groups. Later, he found himself in Nebraska where he was a member of several different bluegrass groups including New Generation, The Country Outlaws, Deadwood Stage, Cousin Earl, Gubby's Natural Choice, and Spring Creek, performing in such places as the Bronco Bar in Torrington, Wyoming and the Oregon Trail Lounge in Gering, Nebraska. He had played with Denny and Steve for several years before officially organizing as the James River Bluegrass Band.
Mark's musical influences include The Eagles, Alabama, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and Lynyrd Skynrd.
Steve Besch
Steve Besch hails from a musical family in northern Iowa where he started playing guitar at the age of five. His ear for harmonies came from singing 50's and 60's style folk music in the car on family trips, indicating that "We didn't have a radio, so we had to provide our own entertainment". Over the years he has played in a variety of bands such as Crash Factory, Diamonds in the Rough and Kit Simon, and those Three Other Guys. In the late 70's and early 80's, the bluegrass really kicked in when he joined a travelling band called Bushwack based in the Colorado Rockies that traveled throughout the mountain and southern states. Bushwack shared the stage with the likes of New Grass Revival, Peter Rowan, Hot Rise and Doc and Merle Watson. Since moving to the Huron are in the early 90's, Steve has been able to continue his love for Bluegrass with the James River Bluegrass Band. With early influences such as Flatt and Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs and Bill Monroe, it was a quick step to developing the only truly American music. He provides the rhythm guitar for JRB as well as lead and harmony vocals. He also does most of the speaking (though certain members will say he speaks a bit too much).
Todd Goehring
Todd Goehring is originally from Hitchcock, South Dakota, about 30 miles from Huron. He began violin lessons at the age of 6. He got involved in the South Dakota Old Time Fiddler's Association soon after and played in his first state fiddle contest in 1975. He began in the 18 and under division, but being he was so young, to reward him for his efforts, Wilbur Foss (head of the SD Old Time Fiddler's), created a 12 and under division for him. He continued to win South Dakota contests in different divisions. In 2009, he captured the SD Adult division championship for his 15th state championship. He was also inducted into the SD Old Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame, and is still the youngest inductee into the hall. In addition to the SD Old Time Fiddlers, Todd has played with a bluegrass band from Aberdeen, SD called the Backyard Boys. He also spent some time with the Mystic Cowboys, a country western group out of Brookings, South Dakota. He then spent some years with County Line, another country group out of Aberdeen, a group that opened a concert for JoDee Messina. His career highlight, however, was meeting with Charlie Daniels on his bus at a concert in Aberdeen in the summer of 2002. Charlie was kind enough to sign one of Todd's fiddles for him.
Todd's influences include Charlie Daniels (of course), the great Mark O'Connor, and Randy Sabien (a great jazz fiddler from Wisconsin), among many others.
On October 1, Todd won the adult division at the Harvest Days Old Time Fiddle Contest in Spearfish, SD. This means that his picture will be shown in the National Old Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame in Weiser, Idaho, and he competed in the 2006 contest in June.