Stoneground

Originally established as a trio in Walnut Creek, California, the expansive collective known as Stoneground grew by 1970 into a five-piece lineup featuring Tim Barnes on guitar, John Blakeley handling bass and guitar, Luther Bildt on guitar and vocals, Pete Sears covering keyboards and bass, and Mike Mau behind the drums. This expanded unit was recruited to support Sal Valentino—born Sal Spampinato on 8 September 1942 in San Francisco, California, and formerly a member of the Beau Brummels—during the Medicine Ball Caravan touring revue, which also featured four additional female vocalists: Annie Sampson, Deidre LaPorte, Lynne Hughes, and Lydia Moreno. The resulting ten-member ensemble traversed both America and Europe from 1970 through 1971. Stoneground’s first album captured the repertoire honed on those stages, yet the follow-up release, Family Album, stands as the group’s most representative work. That engaging double album highlighted the varied vocal approaches and relaxed interplay that defined their sound, though internal tensions ultimately curtailed their promise, leaving only Barnes and Sampson from the original ambitious configuration by 1973. Later iterations proved smaller yet remained equally prone to change, with two subsequent additions, Cory Lerios and Steve Price, departing to establish Pablo Cruise, a band that ironically achieved the mainstream recognition that had eluded its predecessor. Following more than twenty years of dormancy, Barnes and Steve Price revived Stoneground in 2003, finishing work on a fresh studio album.