rio bisbee band
On the sixth day 1980, from out of The Void, by the banks of the mighty Bisbee River of Camden, Maine was formed a musical band. It was called Rio Bisbee for the river. It was good. Originally configured as a 7-piece contradance orchestra, Rio Bisbee Band featured fiddle, guitar, banjo, concertina, trumpet, caller and bass playing polkas, schottisches, hornpipes, reels, jigs and waltzes at thirteen gigs around Mid-Coast Maine that year.
Then Ronald Reagan took office, and things got wierd - a dominant chord was heard! Suddenly, and also dramatically, fiddle, banjo and squeeze-box withdrew from the band. The peripatetic lead guitarist returned from south of the border having studied high tango with Manuel Labor, Argentine guitar master, and Rio Bisbee degenerated to Rock ‘n Roll – roots music of the youth generation.
Annual family get-togethers became weekly rehearsals that eventually led to gigs at wild house parties, stinking underground clubs, mass outdoor events, hideous sectarian rituals, and live on-air performances with WERU and WMPG Community Radio. A fresh contrapuntal sound mode was adopted, and dubbed Rock Pointillism as a tip of the hat to late nineteenth century impressionists. Rio Bisbee.Band is the original school of rock - graduating dozens of talented players over the years, many of whom went on to play in other fine bands.
The essential kernel of Rio Bisbee music is Power Trio: guitar, bass and drums - guitarists on vocals. The greatest bulk of Rio Bisbee numbers are in this economical format. However, with the addition of any singer, percussionist, pianist or horn blower who might wish to join in, the sound may be expanded in any direction. Rio Bisbee Band is a go-anywhere, try-anything band adapting a variety of styles from around the world as a basis for new Bisbee material: African, blues, Cajun, country, flamenco, funk, jazz, klezmer, manouche, Middle-East, punk, reggae, rock-a-billy, soca, space, techno, thrash, western, zydeco, [your favorite genre here]. Though challenging to venue owners & show promoters needing to pigeonhole performers, the diversity of Rio Bisbee music has always intrigued and delighted audiences, and kept players enthusiastic with tempo and tenor change-ups, withal an underlying emphasis on rocking music for dancers.
The nineteen-nineties brought upheavals, evictions, betrayals and prosecutions which degraded the band’s effectiveness as a performing unit. Suffice it to say gravitational forces pulling the band apart became overwhelming and players spun off in different directions, musically and geographically. Luckily, original studio master tapes and a selection of live recordings on 1/4” and cassett had been retained for the Rio Bisbee archives. One deck that worked well enough to play some tapes allowed transcription of Rio Bisbee songs, and Rio Bisbee hits were maintained over the years in un-plugged format. Vital band sound equipment, special tools and bizarre instruments had been retained as well. Combined with original Rio Bisbee music, and a new used hi-top Dodge Ram Bismobile, they comprised a band-in-waiting for new players to step up.
After that lengthy, well-merited hiatus, in 2014 Rio Bisbee.Band reconstituted as a performing ensemble. Original Bisbees from the 20th century came out of retirement to relaunch the band at Maine Vocals’ Garden Fest. After that performance however, retirement proved more appalling appealing than going back on the road. Soon Rio Bisbee Band was once again in need of a drummer and guitarist. The call went out, and in the truest tradition of Rio Bisbee Band, various friends and neighbors filled in when others could not. As a result, Rio Bisbee.Band played all scheduled performances, albeit never with the same personnel. No two alike!
The 2015 concert season was in similar style as various musicians played four different Rio Bisbee outdoor concerts. Female vocalists made a most welcome addition to the Rio Bisbee sound after many years of wishing, hoping and braying for talent in front. For a consecutive second year, Rio Bisbee.Band presented new live versions of authentic original Rio Bisbee music to appreciative audiences in Maine.
Late in 2015 a Rio Bisbee ad at the local music emporium attracted a new guitarist. Just as Rio Bisbee Band had been waiting for a rocking guitarist, Harrison Maheu had been playing guitar waiting for a rocking band. Aloha! At first blush, he ran the Rio Bisbee list from simple to complex without a hitch! Yow! Harrison Bisbee!
Harrison’s next feat was to enroll Rio Bisbee Band in a local open mic night at Little A’s pub in Bar Harbor. Though a bit rough at first, going to open mic allowed much polishing of Rio Bisbee material, as well as an opportunity to meet and play with other talented musicians from Down East Maine including Mike “the Hammer” Hamele, and Steve Arineau on drums.
In late spring Rio Bisbee.Band recorded a version of Hand On The Radio with Harrison, Camden Garland, Brittany Parker, and Yo at Jon Kurgin’s studio. Recording one song proved a reachable goal, and the final mix was rushed to the WERU Community Radio station where soon it was played over the air during fun-a-thon week. For the first time in more than twenty years, new Rio Bisbee music was broadcast on the radio! However even that was insufficient to woo corporatists on the bored to a Bisbee groove they just couldn’t conceive. Censorship and prosecution followed as Matt Murphy WERU-FM disowned long-standing supporters of community radio.
During the late twenty teens Rio Bisbee.Band bounced between various tenuous, short-term and one-night spaces for practice. No matter how much stuff a band has, having a place makes it happen. We played in a basement, in a barn, in an attic, on a balcony, in a bedroom. Rio Bisbee Band did get back into the Kurgin studio to record a timely version of Tribal Man, for the Standing Rock stand-off. As adept as is Rio Bisbee at songs of freedom, the timed nature of the event soon timed out that version. It did get some airplay at the time.
Russell Snyder’s Open Mic moved up Cottage Street in Bar Harbor to Finback Ale House where Rio Bisbee.Band and musical friends continued the tradition of free live music. Over years we formed a musical community of players familiar with each other’s music, switching seats, supporting each other’s performances.
In summer Rio Bisbee.Band took Melody Lane to Harmony, Maine to play newly renamed Freedom Field Park outdoor festivals including Germination, Somerset County Jam, and Harvest Fest. We played our set, then joined friends in our cozy harim by the campfire to enjoy other fine bands’ performances until well after midnight. It is wonderful to be outstanding in our field!
In 2024 a big change came for Rio Bisbee Band with the long-awaited acquisition of a home of our own. Band-Aides Sally and Barb helped purchase a residential property in Ellsworth, Maine ready for us to move in. It is called Studio 455. It is good. The site features level ground, good screening, room for parking, big yard for parties, modern kitchen, domestic utilities, and lots of power outlets. Finally! Rio Bisbee Band has a dedicated rehearsal studio where we can walk in and play, without the usual lug-and-plug required at temporary locations. The acquisition of a comfortable home is a tonic for Rio Bisbee Band. Initial sessions were fabulous! With Al Deal on sound control, Rio Bisbee Band music, both classics from the 20th Century, and the latest recordings are now available for listening and viewing around the world on web platforms. Several times in 2024 Studio 455 hosted musical parties, indoor and out, offering local musicians a chance to play, record and share their music. For Night of the Dead, Rio Bisbee Band presented Ugbuggery for the first time in years to a small, yet intense crowd of waving, raving Bisbee-ites at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, Maine.
In 2025 Rio Bisbee Band acquired the eponymous domain riobisbee.band to build an information site for any and all to visit, listen and view old and new Rio Bisbee performance and art. Click on various portals for something you may also like. Be free to send comments, and of course a place and time we can perform in your town.
What will Rio Bisbee Band do next? was/is the perennial question. Go on tour? Go on vacation? Or will Rio Bisbee.Band finally fulfill destiny to be the most diverse, most unusual, and coolest independent rock ‘n roll band in the world? Stay tuned for soonest update!
Rio Bisbee.Band – Maine source for Rock Pointillism since 1980.
