Gunpowder Creek Photo Archive

Ben Pedigo

Forrest Utley

Cousin Bill Pounds first introduced Ben to the five string banjo and bluegrass music during a holiday trip to West Tennessee in the early 1960's. "Cousin Bill had an old Gibson Mastertone and a D-28 and he could put a good lick on either one," remarked Ben. Caught up in the sound of the five string, Ben persuaded his parents to buy him a banjo and began to learn to play. "Lester and Earl had a Saturday TV show on WSB in Atlanta and I would get up close to the TV to try to figure out how Earl got those notes." Ben also discovered WSM and tuned in the Opry on the weekends along with the early morning radio programs of Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. Seeing Ben's interest in music, his parents took him to the Grand Ole Opry, fiddler's conventions in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee and the Everett's Barn in Suwanee, Georgia.

After a couple of years, Ben started to get the "mule kick" and helped form a bluegrass band with high school friends in Atlanta calling themselves The Bluegrass Band. The band played for four seasons at Six Flags Over Georgia and recorded an album with the help of longtime friend Henry Hudson. The band also made a USO tour to England, Germany and the Azores entertaining US and NATO troops. "We really had a great time at Six Flags and were honored to be selected by the USO to bring bluegrass to the troops in Europe," said Ben.

Wanting to combine music with higher education, Ben decided to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and immediately gravitated to picking with Nashville bluegrass musicians. "After school I could walk a couple of blocks to the Bluegrass Inn, tune up my banjo and sit in with people like Scotty Stoneman, and Buck White." Ben's friendship with The Whites gave him an opportunity to perform with Buck, Cheryl, Sharon and Duane Hester for a number of years. "I have fond memories of traveling to Louisville with The Whites and playing at the Storefront Congregation." Ben also performed with The Whites during Howard Baker's 1972 Senate re-election campaign. "Senator Baker's staff would drive us to a small town in East Tennessee and set up the sound equipment, then Buck, Sharon and Cheryl, Duane and I would put on a show on a flat bed truck to get a crowd gathered for Senator Baker. Senator Baker would drive in from another town and deliver a message to the crowd Buck and the band had gathered while we packed up and traveled to another town, set up, and started playing again. We probably played a dozen towns that Saturday with Senator Baker making a speech after our performance - it was great!"

Ben with Monroe at the Opry, 1973	Blue Grass Boys at the Grand Ole Opry 1973
Photos by Carl Fleischhauer, used with permission

Ben's work with The Whites gave him the opportunity to audition for Bill Monroe. Ben decided to take a leave of absence his junior year at Vanderbilt to tour with Bill and The Blue Grass Boys. The opportunity to perform with Bill was a once in a lifetime experience. Ben traveled throughout the South and to California with The Blue Grass Boys, in addition to playing on the Opry and Ernest Tubb's Record Shop. While his parents were understanding, they thought Ben should finish at Vanderbilt and then pursue music. "My father told me that completing my undergraduate studies would be important and that the longer I stayed out of school, the harder it would be to get back into completing my degree." Ben took his dad's advice, gave Bill notice and re-enrolled the following semester.

While finishing studies, Ben met Norman and Nancy Blake and started playing with the Blakes. Ben played banjo on Norman Blake's Flying Fish Album - Old and New and performed with Norman and Nancy in the Nashville area. Interested in combining country with bluegrass, Ben helped form a band with singer songwriter Mike Noble called Tennessee Central. TC toured briefly and recorded some original songs written by Mike, Ben and others in the band.

It was through Ben's friendship with Norman Blake that he met banjo player Ed Cullis in Chattanooga. After graduation, Ben moved to Chattanooga and went to work for Dennis Trone on the excursion boat Border Star which was one of a number of boats owned by Dennis and the Sangamon Packet Company. Ben lived for a time on the steamer US Wake Robin, a lighthouse tender built in 1926, that had been converted by Trone into a harbor landing boat at the foot of the public landing in Chattanooga. Ben worked on the excursion boat and played with Ed and other in Chattanooga calling their band Maple on the Hill. Through his association with Ed, Ben also performed with the Dismembered Tennesseans, a Chattanooga band rich in the bluegrass tradition.

When Dennis Trone moved the Sangamon Packet operations out of Chattanooga, Ben eventually moved up to Peoria to help on the Steamer Julia Belle Swain which was running on the Illinois River. Ben lived on the City of Baton Rouge while deck handing, cooking, cleaning and playing banjo in the Julia Belle Swain Band with Ace Trone, Scott Stokoe, Amanda Trone, Libby Tone and Jamie Hartford during overnight excursions to Starved Rock State Park. A fixture on the Julia Belle Swain and the resident fiddle player was Jamie's father John Hartford. "I thought John's music was great and it was a real treat to get the opportunity to pick with John at Starved Rock Lodge and on the boat.

Being around the river for all those years sparked an interest in architecture and old buildings. "When I lived in Nashville, I noticed that the row buildings on the Cumberland were beautiful and I thought that it would be fun to restore an old building on the river." Ben got his opportunity to do just that when he was asked by friend, Jim Collins, then professor of art at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, if Ben would like to move to Ripley, Ohio and help with the restoration of an old bank building that Jim purchased to make an art gallery for his sculptures and other works of art. "I didn't know a thing about restoring buildings until Jim guided me. He taught me on all spects of construction; he is a very talented artist."

For a time, Ben spent his summers working on the Julia Belle Swain in Peoria and his winters in Ripley. In Ohio, Ben met regional musicians, performing with Earl Taylor, the Ohio Valley Rounders, the Nipper Brothers, Monroe fiddle player Mike Fegan and Dale Lykins. He eventually bought an 1860's rowhouse overlooking the Ohio River in Ripley. He also met school teacher, Kim Utley, fell in love and married. Shortly after their marraige, Ben and Kim decided to restore one of the 1860's rowhouses they owned. "There was virtually nothing done to the house since the 1937 flood so we had our work cut out for us," said Kim. The couple worked on the space in the evenings, weekends, hired local contractors and eventually completed the restoration about a week before their first child's birth. "We moved in right before Harrison was born and it's been home ever since," said Kim.

Three children later, Ben and Kim have recently started restoration on a second rowhouse next to their residence: the future home for Ripley Banjo Works. "We decided that we should develop a space that Ben could use for teaching students banjo and guitar lessons and I could use to teach our children." said Kim. Kim taught in public and private schools for 14 years and is presently teaching the Pedigo children in a home school setting.

With the dream of Ripley Banjo Works becoming a reality, The Pedigo's have much to be thankful for. In addition to their family and friends, Ben has started to give banjo and guitar lessons and has started performing with Kim's brother, Forrest Utley, in the duo GUNPOWDER CREEK. Kim and daughter Katherine are creating a jewelry line incorporating vintage beads. Their line of jewelry is under the name riverpeepers. Click here for more information about beautiful Riverpeepers jewelry with vintage beads.

The mountain music played by the McNabb family from the hills of Kentucky was a big influence on Forrest Utley. As a boy, Forrest would visit his great grandparents on the Red River in Natural Bridge and hear cousin Jasper Spencer play tunes on the 5 string banjo in the claw hammer style. "I was fascinated by the music down in Natural Bridge. I recall listening to my family picking and singing by an old cook stove in my great grandparents' kitchen." Like Forrest, his great uncles Walter, John and Omer McNabb also listened to the music when they were young and began a family band, playing tunes they heard growing up along with the sounds of Red Foley and Roy Acuff coming from the Grand Old Opry. Great grandpa McNabb was also an accomplished banjo player and would join in with the music.

Forrest didn't have to go very far to hear the old time music that he enjoyed while visiting Natural Bridge. Forrest's great uncles, along with thousands of other men and women looking for work, came to the Cincinnati area to find jobs during the Great Depression. After serving in World War II, the McNabb Brothers played in local clubs on the weekends in Covington, Kentucky. Inspired by his family tradition, Forrest borrowed a guitar from a friend when he was 12 years old and started to play, imitating what his great uncles had been doing since they were boys.

Historically, Cincinnati has been a melting pot of north and south and Forrest's musical taste represented a blend of the traditional sounds he heard at a young age and the contemporary music that was popular in the urban areas of the United States. This mix of Bob Dylan, Neal Young along with music of Ernest Tubb and his great uncles Walter, John and Omer McNabb, were part of Forrest's introduction to music and helped him form a style of music and singing that brings these musical traditions together.

The Christmas of 1974 brought Forrest his own guitar. By this time, Forrest was picking and singing with friends and was introduced to Scotty Anderson, an exceptionally talented singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. In addition to being an excellent musician, Scotty was an excellent teacher, taking time to instruct Forrest on a solid guitar method, providing a music foundation for Forrest and other aspiring musicians in the region. "Scotty had a big influence on my guitar playing. He taught me the finger style picking I use today and showed me chord progressions and fingering that were invaluable."

As Forrest expanded his musical abilities, Scotty helped him get his first job playing in the house band at the Woodland Inn, in Walton, Kentucky. "It was a fun place to play and the experience helped me with performing many musical styles. I also started learning harmonica which can add a lot to a song." Forrest also started performing with Cousin Larry McNabb, Walter's son, doing weekend shows at club in the Northern Kentucky area.

Forrest has always had a knack for making friends through music and teamed up with childhood friend, Daryl Smith, to form a duo that performed for many years at the Straus Haus in Covington's' historic district as well as Octoberfest and Tall Stacks and other events in the historic district of Covington. The duo was very successful and had a large following in Northern Kentucky. Two of the duo's biggest fans, Susan Lefever and Debbie Wagner, had far reaching plans for the music group and eventually married Forrest and Daryl. "We both met our future wives while playing at the Straus Haus. Daryl married Debbie, I married Susan and we've been happy ever since," remarked Forrest.

These days Forrest and Susan spend time on their 120 acre farm in Union, Kentucky taking care of their two horses, Truly and Caman, and their 4 dogs and 4 cats. Susan is an antique dealer and collector who also has an eye for Kentucky art and crafts. You will see her at antique shows buying and selling. In addition to his musical talent, Forrest is also a naturalist and conservationist -- he knows about every nook and cranny on their farm in the Ohio River Valley, can point out every tree species and can name evry bird by listening to their call.

A cool evening on the farm will have Forrest and brother-in-law Ben getting together to pick and to work out vocal harmonies on the back porch overlooking the valley. "We like to combine our music with our family." That should come naturally to Forrest, he comes from a long line of musicians in the family tradition.