Northern Lights was an American

progressive bluegrass Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it lar ...

band formed in 1975 in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, which musical career spanned more than three decades. Known for a progressive style of bluegrass playing, the band went through a number of line-up changes through the years and included such personalities as

Alison Brown Alison Brown (born August 7, 1962) is an American banjo player, guitarist, composer, and producer. She has won and has been nominated for several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck, for her unique style of ...

or multiinstrumentalist

Jake Armerding Jake Armerding is an American folk musician and multi-instrumentalist from Boston, Massachusetts. He plays mostly acoustic string instruments like the mandolin, acoustic guitar, and fiddle. In 1990, Jake began playing with Northern Lights occasi ...

, son of founding member Taylor Armerding, who started playing with the band full-time at age of 14, but played occasionally when he was 12. As of 2009, there is no founding member left in the group. Guitarist Bill Henry, who joined the band in 1982 assumed the leadership role and Northern Lights continue to play without interruption as a quintet, consisting of two generation of musicians - Bill Henry, John Daniel and Alex MacLeod as well as young players Eric Robertson and Mike Barnett. The band has issued 10 studio and 1 live recording with Vassar Clemonts. Most of which are, unfortunately, out of print today. From 1990's " Take You to the Sky," to recently released One Day(Fifty-Fifty Music), the band has fused an eclectic mix of traditional roots music, rock, country, soul and gospel with the high, lonesome vocal sound and instruments of bluegrass. Three of their records also reached the top ten of Bluegrass Unlimited's National Bluegrass Survey.

History

The Northern Lights began its history in 1975, when Bob Emery, Marty Sachs and Dan Marcus asked mandolinist Taylor Armerding to join them in their progressive bluegrass efforts. This line-up recorded their first self-titled album in 1976, however, the group split in 1977. After five years, they re-formed again, at the urging of

Joe Val Joseph 'Val' Valiante (June 26, 1926 - June 11, 1985) was a bluegrass musician and singer from New England, known for his mandolin playing and his high tenor voice. Life and career Joe Val was born Joseph Valiante in Everett, Massachusetts. Al ...

, Taylor contacted banjoist

. She remained in the Northern Lights lineup for the next two years. After Allison moved back to California in 1986, banjoist Mike Kropp took her spot to remain with the band for the next 17 years. Around this time, the band started to enjoy more recognition as a strong progressive bluegrass band, playing in different festivals together with well-known artists such as

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...

, Mark O'Connor,

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. Rowan plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings. Biography Rowan was born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family. From an early age, he had an interes ...

. This would help the band to sign with

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

and record their next three CD's under this label. Most part of its history Northern Lights performed as a quartet and hired guest fiddlers such as

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

Matt Glaser Matt Glaser is an American jazz and bluegrass violinist. He served as the chair of the string department at the Berklee College of Music for more than twenty-five years. He is now the founder and artistic director of Berklee's American Roots ...

Vassar Clements Vassar Carlton Clements (April 25, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was an American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and ...

, son of band's mandolinist Taylor, started to play with the band occasionally at the age of 12 (in 1990), joining the band full-time 2 years later. The band recorded their two highly acclaimed records with Jake, Wrong Highway Blues in 1994 and Living in the City in 1996. A review of Living in the City in the Toronto Star labeled the group "the finest of modern bluegrass groups". Jake left in 1999 to pursue his own music, as well as Mike Kropp in 2000 and Taylor Armerding in 2003. These have been the most significant changes to the band line-up so far. Bill Henry took over the lead role and the band recorded New Moon and their latest album, One Day in 2008. .

Disbandment

After some three decades of bringing bluegrass to the Northeast and beyond, Northern Lights decided to close up shop. Band's last official show was at the Rose Garden in Mansfield, MA on March 13. Several NL alumni were on hand there to help us celebrate the end of a New England institution, including Taylor Armerding, Mike Kropp, Jeff Horton and Dave Dick.

Discography

Discography info on www.bicoastal.com
/ref> Recorded under Revonah Records: *'' Northern Lights'' (1976) *'' Before the Fire Comes Down''(1983) *'' On the Edge'' (1987) Recorded under

*'' Take You to the Sky'' (1990) *'' Can't Buy Your Way'' (1992) *'' Wrong Highway Blues'' (1994) Recorded under

Red House Records Red House Records is an independent folk and Americana record label in St. Paul, Minnesota. The label was founded in 1983 by Bob Feldman after seeing a performance by Iowa folk singer Greg Brown. Origin The label is named for a farmhouse in ...

*'' Living in the City'' (1996) Recorded under Prime CD Records *'' Three August Nights'' (2000) *''Another Sleepless Night'' (2001) Recorded under Fifty Fifty Music Music *''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'' (2005) *'' One Day'' (2008)

Band lineups

Northern Lights timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1975 till:2010 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:guitar value:orange legend:Guitar id:bass value:black legend:Bass id:mandolin value:blue legend:Mandolin id:banjo value:green legend:Banjo id:Violin value:red legend:Violin LineData = at:1976 color:black layer:back at:1983 color:black layer:back at:1987 color:black layer:back at:1990 color:black layer:back at:1992 color:black layer:back at:1994 color:black layer:back at:1996 color:black layer:back at:2000 color:black layer:back at:2001 color:black layer:back at:2005 color:black layer:back at:2008 color:black layer:back Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1975 PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Dan Marcus from:1975 till:1977 color:banjo bar:Richard Hand from:1977 till:1977 color:banjo bar:Marty Sachs from:1975 till:1977 color:bass bar:Bob Emery from:1975 till:1977 color:guitar bar:Bob Emery from:1982 till:1987 color:bass bar:Taylor Armerding from:1975 till:1977 color:mandolin bar:Taylor Armerding from:1982 till:2003 color:mandolin bar:Alison Brown from:1982 till:1984 color:banjo bar:Bill Henry from:1982 till:2010 color:guitar bar:Mike Kropp from:1984 till:2000 color:banjo bar:Oz Barron from:1987 till:1990 color:bass bar:Jeff Horton from:1990 till:1996 color:bass bar:Jake Armerding from:1992 till:1999 color:violin bar:Dave Dick from:2003 till:2006 color:banjo bar:Chris Miles from:1996 till:2003 color:bass bar:John Daniel from:2003 till:2010 color:bass bar:Ben Demerath from:2003 till:2008 color:guitar bar:Joe Walsh from:2003 till:2008 color:mandolin bar:Eric Robertson from:2008 till:2010 color:mandolin bar:Alex MacLeod from:2008 till:2010 color:guitar bar:Mike Barnett from:2003 till:2010 color:violin

References

External links

* (Official site) Closed * (Group management, concerts booking) Closed {{Authority control American bluegrass music groups Red House Records artists Flying Fish Records artists Progressive bluegrass music groups