Dead Men's Hollow

AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, SALOONS, PAWN SHOPS AND HOUSES OF ILL REPUTE DOMINATED THE ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA END OF THE OLD AQUEDUCT BRIDGE LEADING INTO WASHINGTON, DC. LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS HAD TO TRAVEL IN WELL-ARMED GROUPS IF THEY WISHED TO PASS UNHARMED. THEY CALLED THIS PLACE "DEAD MEN'S HOLLOW".

Dead Men's Hollow began as an impromptu backyard pick 'n' sing. Five people braved the humidity of a mid-Atlantic Summer one hot evening in 2001, and what transpired as we perspired was more trancendent than we could have imagined. Three sweet voices sang Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" in lush—albeit impromptu—three-part harmony; even the crickets quieted for a moment so they might savor the last few notes hanging in the steamy air. The crickets were onto something: this crew had the makings of a band, and this wasn't just a jam. As the sun descended, so did the mosquitos. Although we beat a hasty retreat, the band played on.

Amy Nazarov, who provides many of DMH's high harmonies and lead vocals on "The Blackest Crow," "When I Stop Dreaming" and other band standards, has a completely random musical background. While as a child in Connecticut she pronounced family carol sings "totally dorky," she was secretly thrilled to be learning a bit about the intricacies of harmony-singing from her music-loving parents, Brian and Carol, accomplished singers themselves, who, as former members of the Hartford (Conn.) Chorale and the Berkshire (Mass.) Choral Festival, performed Orff's "Carmina Burana" and other works.

While Belinda Hardesty's musical experiences have been wide and varied, it is the music of the people that moves her soul. The music of old people. Very old people. Very old dead people. So what better place for her than Dead Men's Hollow? With her music degree, Belinda has performed everything from medieval to jazz music on everything from recorder to bari sax to voice. She's performed with the Akron Symphony Chorus, the Hiram College Madrigal Singers, numerous other choirs, orchestras, bands, chamber groups, and even a gospel choir or two.

Caryn Fox was bitten by the performance bug at birth. As a three-year-old, Caryn would regularly be found atop the living room coffee table, singing for whoever would stop to listen. In high-school, musicals were her love as she often performed in several shows a year, including standards such as Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Pajama Game, Finnian's Rainbow, and The Sound of Music, as well as many original plays with original scores.

Bob Peirce started his musical career more than 25 years ago playing bass ... and still plays bass, although his instrument has grown significantly. Bob has played bass with various classic rock and blues bands like The DangerTones, No Alibi, and Riverside. Today Bob anchors DMH at the bottom on bass fiddle and basso profundo vocals. As a balance he also adds color to the top with masterful mandolin picking.

When Marcy Cochran decided to take up fiddling nearly 6 years ago, she couldn't find a teacher in the DC area, so she packed up her great grandfather's fiddle and headed for the woods of Tennessee. There she got a total immersion at Mark O'Connor's Nashville fiddle camp, and she returned 3 more summers subsequently. She gravitated towards the instruction of Bruce Molsky, Daniel Carwile, Casey Driessen, Buddy Spicher, Johnny Frigo, Aubrey Haynie, Mark Wood, Christian Howes and Victor Lin, and had the additional good fortune of hanging out with John Hartford, fiddling on the front porch.

In 1984, Mike Clayberg, was sitting on the basement stairs of Don Zientara's famed Inner Ear Studio in Arlington, Virginia, discussing a merger of genres with his band's guitar player, John Cobbett. Both members of Malefice agreed that the only thing more awesome than the band's combination of punk's raw energy with the double-bass thunder of speed metal would be the addition of bluegrass. Specifically, Scruggs-style banjo. However, neither man knew any banjo players and thus the idea was lost. Temporarily.

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Watch Past Performances

10/25/06: Dead Men's Hollow

This DC-area band rocks audiences with their blend of old-time bluegrass, Southern gospel, and country blues, playing classics and original tunes of “love found and lost, revenge thwarted, redemption delivered, and grandmas piloting airplanes.”

Dead Men's Hollow

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1/28/06: Dead Men's Hollow

Led by sublime three-part female harmonies coupled to fiddle, flat-top guitar, and upright bass, Dead Men’s Hollow plays old-time, bluegrass, southern gospel, and country blues as heard on the recent CD Forever True.

Dead Men's Hollow

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Dead Men's Hollow

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