Bluegrass, Rock Musician Brings Down the 'House'

As Ted Pitney looked up from his guitar after his third song, he found himself looking straight into a large mirror on the other side of the room, which was just a few feet away.

"I don't think I've ever played in a place where, if I look right ahead, I can see myself," Pitney joked. "And, looking now, I'm not really sure about my mustache, either."

This was the light, intimate, easy-going rapport featured at Pitney's performance Saturday in the living room of his cousin Doug Pitney's house, located right next to the Chatham Township municipal building.

"We talked about having him up a few years ago, but he wasn't able to," Doug said about his cousin, who lives in Charlottesville, Va. "But he called us up not long ago saying he was looking to do some shows in the area."

Pitney's set, which was the fourth in a series of Chatham House Concerts that Doug and his wife Linda have been hosting at their house, included a soothing blend of light rock and bluegrass music.

Pitney, one of the founding members of the bluegrass group King Wilkie, which won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2004, has been working on lighter rock fare for a little more than a year.

The first hour of his set, which largely featured music from his new album, "The Gennesee," reflected this guitar-driven light rock. Accompanied by bass player and former King Wilkie member Jake Hopping and percussionist Stuart Gunter, Teddy and the Roosevelts, as they called themselves, filled the room with Pitney's original songs, which spanned in style from slow love songs to radio-friendly pop.

Pitney's solo work is intimate in both style, with tempo allowing for audience-wide head-bobbing, and lyrical content, as many of his songs contain references to western New York where he grew up. Mixed together with an intimate performance space filled with an attentive audience of a little more than 25 people, Pitney's set seemed to complement the atmosphere.

"We're used to playing a lot of these songs with more musicians in a bigger setting," said Pitney, who opened for Lyle Lovett in August. "It's nice to play them in an intimate setting."

After a short break, Teddy and the Roosevelts were joined by former King Wilkie fiddle player Nick Reeb, as they dove into some old King Wilkie tunes and other bluegrass favorites.

However, what made the concert so unique was the back-and-forth between the band and the audience, which was partially due to the band's laid-back style and to the small setting. Before most songs, Pitney would explain the theme behind them or the stories that inspired them, which was often followed by comments from the audience and other band members.

"It's funny," Hopping, the bass player, said after one of Pitney's introductions, "I don't think I've ever heard any of these stories before."

Chatham House Concerts

Saturday's performance is the fourth house concert Doug and Linda Pitney have hosted since having John Carlini, a bluegrass musician from Berkeley Heights, perform for the first time in April 2008.

Since then, they have hosted a second Carlini performance and a show by banjo player Tony Trischka, who Doug identified as "the guy who taught Steve Martin how to play the banjo."

"We just have a love of music, especially bluegrass," Doug said. "And we really want to get the word out to the community that there are these great musicians around. We provide food for everybody, and we just hope that they come and enjoy the music."

Doug said that there aren't very many people nearby doing house concerts, and he said that what makes the ones that he and his wife host so unique is that they usually include tutorials from the artists. For instance, Trischka's performance included a tutorial on how to play the banjo for the 50-person audience.

"We've fit 50 people in our living room, and that is our hope every time," Doug said.

The house concert series will continue on Sept. 25 with Tripping Lily, which will include a ukulele tutorial by the band. For more information, visit the Chatham House Concerts Facebook page.

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