Biography
Though he first took up the mandolin in an offhand manner after long considering himself mainly a guitarist, Jimmy Gaudreau has registered major achievements on the compact instrument. While many of his accomplishments reflect a clear pull toward progressive bluegrass, he has also moved fluidly through several longstanding traditional ensembles, among them the Country Gentlemen, widely regarded as one of the finest.
During the 1960s Gaudreau was simply another adolescent absorbed in learning rock guitar; once the mandolin caught his attention he transferred many of the same left-hand patterns he already knew from six strings. He showed little inclination to adopt any prescribed technique on the new instrument and never followed the common path of novices by committing to memory the signature phrases of Bill Monroe or Jethro Burns. From his earliest appearances with the Country Gentlemen in the late 1960s he stood out as an original stylist and is in fact the musician credited with coining the phrase “the bluegrass police,” a mocking label for listeners convinced that every detail must conform to one fixed approach.
Gaudreau’s steadfast preference for his own musical instincts earned him positions in several distinguished bluegrass groups across nearly fifty years of performance. He also emerged as a proponent of the electric mandolin—an interest consistent with his generation and outlook—and has appeared on the modern five-string model as well. He entered the Country Gentlemen in 1969, a step that drew considerable notice because he was stepping into the chair long occupied by the popular mandolinist John Duffey. Under Charlie Waller’s direction the band remained active into the early 2000s, and Gaudreau has returned periodically as its mandolinist since 1981.
Between those engagements he participated in several ensembles that shaped bluegrass history. For eleven years he belonged to the Tony Rice Unit and appeared on multiple acclaimed recordings. He also spent time in J.D. Crowe & the New South, sharing stages and sessions with the late and widely influential singer Keith Whitley as well as with the agile players Bobby Slone and Steve Bryant; one especially vivid document of that lineup, Live in Japan, came out on Rounder in 1982. From 1979 to 1981 he performed with Spectrum alongside banjoist Béla Fleck, bassist Mark Schatz, and additional musicians—an association whose adventurous sound prompted more than a few traditionalists to object. At the same time he maintained ties with older-style players, among them the First Generation project that paired him with the uncompromising banjoist Don Stover.
The 1990s brought fresh lineups that sometimes reunited familiar colleagues. A loose trio of Dobro player Mike Auldridge, bassist T. Michael Coleman, and guitarist Larry “Moondi” Klein operated under the name Chesapeake until Gaudreau joined as a fourth member, at which point the group’s energy intensified and it began headlining numerous festivals. From that experience emerged an unnamed cooperative trio of Auldridge, Gaudreau, and guitarist Richard Bennett; the three issued two albums, among them the 2001 Rebel release Blue Lonesome Wind. (Mike Auldridge passed away in late December 2012 at age 73 following a decade-long struggle with cancer.) In 1994 Gaudreau served as producer for Young Mando Monsters, a session that assembled four rising, assertive mandolinists including Ronnie McCoury and Alan Bibey. Among the many recordings associated with his various projects, the 1970s album The Mandolin Album on Puritan Records is frequently cited as one of his most fully realized solo statements.
Into the new century Gaudreau has continued to record actively, appearing with the Skylighters, Bill Emerson, Robin & Linda Williams, and the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band, whose self-titled album was released in 2008. That same year he began a series of duo projects with his former Chesapeake colleague Moondi Klein. Although he has most often worked as a sideman or collaborator, he issued the solo collection Pieces and Bits in 2010, drawing together original material written over the preceding decade. Two further duo albums with Klein followed in 2012 and 2014, and the gospel-folk set Give Us Strength, recorded with vocalist Elle Mears, appeared in 2017.
During the 1960s Gaudreau was simply another adolescent absorbed in learning rock guitar; once the mandolin caught his attention he transferred many of the same left-hand patterns he already knew from six strings. He showed little inclination to adopt any prescribed technique on the new instrument and never followed the common path of novices by committing to memory the signature phrases of Bill Monroe or Jethro Burns. From his earliest appearances with the Country Gentlemen in the late 1960s he stood out as an original stylist and is in fact the musician credited with coining the phrase “the bluegrass police,” a mocking label for listeners convinced that every detail must conform to one fixed approach.
Gaudreau’s steadfast preference for his own musical instincts earned him positions in several distinguished bluegrass groups across nearly fifty years of performance. He also emerged as a proponent of the electric mandolin—an interest consistent with his generation and outlook—and has appeared on the modern five-string model as well. He entered the Country Gentlemen in 1969, a step that drew considerable notice because he was stepping into the chair long occupied by the popular mandolinist John Duffey. Under Charlie Waller’s direction the band remained active into the early 2000s, and Gaudreau has returned periodically as its mandolinist since 1981.
Between those engagements he participated in several ensembles that shaped bluegrass history. For eleven years he belonged to the Tony Rice Unit and appeared on multiple acclaimed recordings. He also spent time in J.D. Crowe & the New South, sharing stages and sessions with the late and widely influential singer Keith Whitley as well as with the agile players Bobby Slone and Steve Bryant; one especially vivid document of that lineup, Live in Japan, came out on Rounder in 1982. From 1979 to 1981 he performed with Spectrum alongside banjoist Béla Fleck, bassist Mark Schatz, and additional musicians—an association whose adventurous sound prompted more than a few traditionalists to object. At the same time he maintained ties with older-style players, among them the First Generation project that paired him with the uncompromising banjoist Don Stover.
The 1990s brought fresh lineups that sometimes reunited familiar colleagues. A loose trio of Dobro player Mike Auldridge, bassist T. Michael Coleman, and guitarist Larry “Moondi” Klein operated under the name Chesapeake until Gaudreau joined as a fourth member, at which point the group’s energy intensified and it began headlining numerous festivals. From that experience emerged an unnamed cooperative trio of Auldridge, Gaudreau, and guitarist Richard Bennett; the three issued two albums, among them the 2001 Rebel release Blue Lonesome Wind. (Mike Auldridge passed away in late December 2012 at age 73 following a decade-long struggle with cancer.) In 1994 Gaudreau served as producer for Young Mando Monsters, a session that assembled four rising, assertive mandolinists including Ronnie McCoury and Alan Bibey. Among the many recordings associated with his various projects, the 1970s album The Mandolin Album on Puritan Records is frequently cited as one of his most fully realized solo statements.
Into the new century Gaudreau has continued to record actively, appearing with the Skylighters, Bill Emerson, Robin & Linda Williams, and the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band, whose self-titled album was released in 2008. That same year he began a series of duo projects with his former Chesapeake colleague Moondi Klein. Although he has most often worked as a sideman or collaborator, he issued the solo collection Pieces and Bits in 2010, drawing together original material written over the preceding decade. Two further duo albums with Klein followed in 2012 and 2014, and the gospel-folk set Give Us Strength, recorded with vocalist Elle Mears, appeared in 2017.
Albums
Singles
