Fred Pike

Bluegrass often evokes the Appalachians in listeners' minds, prompting some critics to claim that players from distant California lack the authenticity to perform it convincingly. Since those peaks extend into New England, accomplished musicians such as guitarist and five-string banjoist Fred Pike emerged there as well. Born in Rhode Island, Pike moved northward with his family as a child, settling as far north as possible while remaining in the United States. A central figure in Maine's bluegrass community, he grew up surrounded by music in a household of twelve siblings, all of whom pursued musical interests. He began exploring melodies on piano at age five and, by nine, was already performing at stage shows and dances, frequently alongside family members.

In 1947 Pike and his brother Earl launched the Pike Brothers and the Pine Hill Ranchers, a group that remained active for ten years. Its dissolution prompted Pike to collaborate with Randy Hawkins in the Country Nite Hawkes, an ensemble that also encouraged him to adopt the five-string banjo. Following a run of well-received 45 rpm singles, he shifted focus to the Kennebec Valley Boys. With that band he inaugurated Maine's first bluegrass festival in 1976 and received the state's honor for best bluegrass band of the year. His extensive touring with the group helped root the style in Maine, where local enthusiasm proved enduring. In a 1980 Maine Sunday Telegram interview Pike recalled the early period by noting, "When I started playing bluegrass in Maine, it was so new that people thought it was something you smoked."

Pike formed Back Porch Bluegrass in 1977; the ensemble captured that year's Maine Country Music Association award for bluegrass band. His résumé further includes appearances alongside banjoist Don Reno, vocalist Mac Wiseman, mandolinist and bandleader Bill Monroe, and country performers such as Dick Curless, Gene Hooper, and Jud Strunk. Though rooted in traditional bluegrass, he joined progressive efforts including the acclaimed Jimmy Gaudreau Mandolin Album. The bulk of his discography stays within the traditional idiom, and audiences particularly favored his 1978 Revonah guitar release, Fred Pike and His Flat-top Guitar. Until his death in the mid-'90s, Pike hosted the annual Salty Dog Festival on his farm to honor the music he had long championed in the region.