The Washington Post - 31.07.2019

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3

John Duffey was a big man with a big voice who played a small instrument. When he died — too soon — in 1996, Duffey had influenced the music he loved in ways big and small. His story is told in a new book, “John Duffey’s Bluegrass Life: Featuring the Country Gentlemen, Seldom Scene and Washington, DC.” by Stephen Moore and G.T. Keplinger. It’s a story not only of mandolinist and singer Duffey, but of dozens of other people who made Washington a hotbed of bluegrass music. Duffey was born in 1934 in Washington. He grew up in Bethesda where the sound of a banjo he heard on the radio made him fall hard for what was then called “hillbilly” music. He was to pick up — and pick on — the mandolin. Growing up as he did far from the hollows of Appalachia, Duffey over time forged a music that appealed to suburbanites and urbanites like himself. With his bands, the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene, Duffey changed the way bluegrass was played and found it new fans. “They hadn’t grown up on a farm,” co-author Keplinger said of Duffey and his bandmates. “They hadn’t grown up working fields and making hay. They’d grown up in a much more urban environment. Some aspect of the music connected with them, but they had a different sensibility about the way they approached the music. I think John Duffey was at the forefront of that.” Washington proved the perfect incubator for this music. Not only was it home to a generation of people whose parents had moved to the capital from the bluegrass belt in search of work, it also had middle-class

professionals open to new sounds. It had a support system in the form of clubs that booked bluegrass and radio stations that played it. Bluegrass “was much more traditional when [Duffey] started,” co-author Moore said. “He liked new music. He liked folk music. He was fascinated by Bob Dylan. He was one of the first bluegrass people to bring that music into the folk movement.” He sought out new music but also visited the Lomax folklife collection at the Library of Congress to find old songs that could be recast. Duffey wasn’t a virtuoso on the mandolin, but he had an identifiable style. It wasn’t just what he played, but how he played it. Said Moore: “He would tell almost every mandolin player the same thing: ‘Well, you’re pretty good. Sometimes I’d say you’re better than me. But you’ve got to learn how to sell it. You can’t just stand there and play the notes.’” While many traditional bluegrass players had a respectful — if grim-faced — stage presence, Duffey thought a musician should be an entertainer. If his runs on the mandolin fretboard ended in disaster, he’d simply play the same thing again, suggesting he’d meant to do it all along. Though surrounded by exceptional other musicians — who played guitar, bass, banjo and dobro — Duffey was the leader of the band, the onstage emcee who joked between songs and shot down hecklers. Later in his career he took to wearing Zubaz pants, the brightly-colored and busily-patterned garments favored by professional wrestlers. Duffey was a bit of a wrestler himself. He could come across as bombastic, intimidating to other musicians, scary to fans who wanted to meet him. Moore thinks this hid an inner shyness. Of course, it was how Duffey sounded that won him so many

fans. He had a four-octave range and possessed a high tenor so distinctive it could raise the hair on the back of listeners’ necks or bring a tear to their eyes. One of the standout songs by the Seldom Scene is “Wait a Minute.” The harmonies are so tight you can’t get a knife blade between them. Duffey and the Seldom Scene famously played every Thursday night at the Birchmere in Alexandria for 22 years. They were as big as it was possible to get in bluegrass. The fact that they were no bigger was down to Duffey. He hated to tour and wouldn’t play the games the music business demands of its artists. Duffey died of a heart attack in

He was 62. Central to “John
Duffey’s Bluegrass Life” is
material from a wide-ranging,
four-hour interview Moore
conducted with Duffey in 1984 at
the musician’s Arlington home.
In the book, Duffey’s quotes are
italicized. It reminded me of the

way the words of Jesus Christ are printed in red in the Bible.

In tribute How influential was John Duffey? So influential that his music spoke to a young Japanese musician named Akira Otsuka, a member of Bluegrass 45, the first Japanese bluegrass band to tour North America. Last year, Smithsonian Folkways released “Epilogue,” a tribute album to Duffey produced by Otsuka, with contributions by top bluegrass players. It includes a version of the spooky, spectral “Bringing Mary Home” originally recorded by Duffey’s Country Gentlemen. The song is recorded on the tribute album by John Starling, a bandmate in the Seldom Scene who died in May. [email protected] Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.

Mandolin player made

area a bluegrass hotbed

John Kelly's Washington

BECKY JOHNSON John Duffey, who died in 1996, was a founding member of the Seldom Scene and the Country Gentlemen — bands that changed the face of bluegrass. A new biography tells his story.

THE DISTRICT

Victims of waterfront

incidents identified

Two women who died hours
apart last week after separate
incidents along different parts of
the Potomac waterfront in the
District have been identified by
police and the father of one of
the victims.
Taylor Reeves, 50, of
Columbia, Md., apparently fell
off a pier in the Washington
Channel about 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, near the Wharf
complex on Maine Avenue in
Southwest. Police said Jazz
Haaren, 19, of Vienna, Va., fell
off the Alexandria Aqueduct in
Georgetown about 11:45 p.m.
and landed in a boat moored in
the water below.
The D.C. Medical Examiner’s
Office said Haaren’s death has
been ruled accidental. Her
relatives could not be reached
Monday.
The cause of death for Reeves
is pending, though police have
said they do not suspect
anything suspicious. Reeves’s
father, Julian Taylor Reeves, said
police told relatives that it
appears his daughter slipped off
or accidentally stepped off the
pier.
— Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Children injured in

Potomac bus collision

A work truck and a bus
carrying 48 school-age children
collided Tuesday morning in
Potomac, sending several of the
children to a hospital.
Montgomery County police
said the incident occurred just
before 9 a.m. along River Road
near Newbridge Drive and
Persimmon Tree Road.
Fourteen injured children
were taken to a hospital,
according to Pete Piringer, a
spokesman for the Montgomery
County Fire and Rescue Service.
He said none of their injuries
were serious.
Piringer said the bus was
taking children to the Valley Mill
Camp in the Darnestown area.
— Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Ex-officer charged in computer breach

A former police lieutenant in Northern Virginia has been charged in a computer invasion of privacy case, officials said. William Martin Burke, 43, of Manassas, who had worked for the Prince William County Police Department, faces five counts of computer invasion of privacy. He was charged Monday after an investigation into the alleged use of a law enforcement database called the Law Enforcement Information Exchange, or LInX, to access people’s personal information for “unauthorized purposes.” The information that was “obtained during the searches” by Burke “does not appear to have been used in any fraudulent way,” police officials said in a statement. Burke, who had been with Prince William police for 17 years, stopped working at the department in April. Officials did not say whether he was fired or resigned. A police spokesman referred questions about how many people may have been affected by the data breach to the local prosecutor, who did not return a call and email seeking comment. — Dana Hedgpeth

Two men accused of sex assault in Fairfax

Two men in their 20s were arrested and charged in connection with a sexual assault at a restaurant in Fairfax County. Local police said the incident occurred May 16 at the Wingstop restaurant on Cooper Road in the Mount Vernon area. The men — Andrew Collins, 22, and Kevin Caldwell, 21 — were arrested Saturday and Sunday. Neither has a fixed address, police said. Collins is charged with animate object penetration and Caldwell is charged with forcible sodomy. — Dana Hedgpeth

LOCAL DIGEST

Results from July 30

DISTRICT
Mid-Day Lucky Numbers: 5-9-8
Mid-Day DC-4: 2-6-0-6
Mid-Day DC-5: 5-4-1-7-9
Lucky Numbers (Mon.): 9-3-0
Lucky Numbers (Tue.): 1-8-0
DC-4 (Mon.): 9-7-1-9
DC-4 (Tue.): 0-3-6-9
DC-5 (Mon.): 5-3-5-8-4
DC-5 (Tue.): 5-4-7-4-1

MARYLAND
Day/Pick 3: 7-1-7
Pick 4: 8-9-0-5
Night/Pick 3 (Mon.): 7-0-2
Pick 3 (Tue.): 1-8-5
Pick 4 (Mon.): 7-7-6-1
Pick 4 (Tue.): 5-8-8-6
Multi-Match (Mon.): 3-8-22-38-39-42
Match 5 (Mon.): 3-11-12-24-39 1
Match 5 (Tue.): 15-19-34-35-39 27

5 Card Cash: 6D-AH-AS-9S-7D

VIRGINIA Day/Pick-3: 2-4-1 Pick-4: 7-8-3-6 Cash-5 (Tue.): 6-7-22-24-31 Night/Pick-3 (Mon.): 0-8-7 Pick-3 (Tue.): 4-5-1 Pick-4 (Mon.): 0-8-5-4 Pick-4 (Tue.): 3-9-8-2 Cash-5 (Mon.): 3-10-12-27-34 Cash-5 (Tue.): 11-22-24-31-33

MULTI-STATE GAMES Cash 4 Life: 5-13-30-31-45 ¶3 Mega Millions: 10-24-28-33-38 **6 Megaplier: 3x Lucky for Life: 5-6-16-19-27 ‡9 *Bonus Ball **Mega Ball ‡Lucky Ball ¶Cash Ball For late drawings and other results, check washingtonpost.com/local/lottery

LOTTERIES

past financial mistakes and of fail- ures to provide adequate information to its three funding jurisdictions — Maryland, Virginia and the District. It also springs from tensions between Metro and its funders over how much freedom the agency should have in managing its spending. But while all three jurisdictions would like Metro to share more information about its finances, Maryland is taking a more aggres- sive position than the others. Maryland said it could not release the $56 million due July 1 in part because a capital funding agreement between Metro and the three jurisdictions had expired June 30. Virginia and the District made their payments anyway, because they were satisfied that the parties were close to agreeing on a one-year extension of the agreement. “All of us have general frustra- tions with Metro on transparency issues, but not to [Maryland’s] level,” said a Northern Virginia transportation official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the issue is politically sen- sitive. Another Virginia official said the dispute risked hurting regional cooperation on Metro. Maryland’s unusual step of withholding a significant amount of money from Metro appeared to be motivated in part by Hogan’s desire to send a political message both to Metro and Maryland Dem- ocrats, analysts said. Hogan has been one of Metro’s most high-profile critics and has complained that the state spends too much of its transportation budget on transit rather than roads. He also is locked in a political battle with some Democratic legislators and county officials from Montgomery and Prince George’s over his proposal to add toll lanes to Interstate 270, the Capital Beltway and the American Legion bridge. The Hogan administration is “a little bit mad at the D.C. suburbs, or at least the political representa- tives from the suburbs,” said Del. Marc A. Korman (D-Montgom- ery), who has played a leading role in the General Assembly on Metro issues. Korman was one of 40 legislators who signed a letter to Rahn urging him to settle the disagree- ments with Metro quickly and release the $56 million in capital funds, which are earmarked to buy new trains, buses and other equipment. The letter was first

METRO FROM B1

reported by the political news website Maryland Matters. “It’s going to be a downward spiral [for Metro] if the jurisdictions just start withholding money,” Korman said. Wiedefeld, in a July 23 letter to Rahn, responded to four concerns that the transportation secretary had raised in a letter he sent when Maryland withheld the money. The general manager said Met- ro would “provide more project detail” in the future, so the funding jurisdictions would know more about how the agency is spending its money. Wiedefeld also said Metro would meet with Maryland audi- tors to resolve a dispute over what Metro admits was a miscalcula- tion in a bus subsidy in 2017. The

mistake led Maryland to be over- charged by $1.2 million in operat- ing funds, and the state has withheld that money and an additional $1.2 million pending results of a 2018 audit. Wiedefeld said Metro was working to achieve the one-year extension of the capital funding agreement. That has been delayed by a dispute, mainly between Maryland and Metro, over how much freedom Wiedefeld should have in reprogramming capital spending, officials said. In what Maryland viewed as a concession, Wiedefeld said Metro is open to negotiating a separate, formal agreement with Maryland for dedicated funding approved last year. In a historic move, the three

jurisdictions agreed to provide Metro with an additional $500 million a year in dedicated funding. Virginia has already signed an agreement with Metro regarding its contributions under that plan, and the District is negotiating a similar deal. Wiedefeld said such an accord has not been negotiated with Maryland because Metro has not received “an official request for one.” After warning that Maryland’s withholding of funds could hurt Metro’s bond rating, Wiedefeld concluded his letter to Rahn by saying, “Given these consider- ations and the good faith effort by [Metro] to address the issues raised in your letter, I request that the [Maryland Department of Transportation] immediately... authorize payment of the withheld capital funds.” In a related development, the District said it is insisting that Metro formally commit in the dedicated funding agreement that new money to be provided would be spent for safety and reliability. The city does not want the money spent to expand the system, such as by building a sec- ond train tunnel under the Poto- mac for the Orange, Blue and Silver lines. “We want to make sure this additional money is going to the things we approved it for,” D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey S. DeWitt said. “We want [Metro] to get the house repaired, not add another room.” [email protected]

Warning of ‘downward spiral’ for Metro

BY LYNH BUI

A Maryland man accused of
killing a woman in his apartment
had taken photos and video of her
after she was wounded — images
detectives later found in the “re-
cently deleted” folder of his
iPhone.
New details in the killing of
Berhan Gebrekirstos, a 24-year-
old from Lanham, came from
court documents made public this
week.
Luel Adal, 27, of the Riverdale
area was charged with first-
degree murder in her slaying on
Friday, according to Prince
George’s County police. Police said
the two knew each other but did
not detail the nature of their rela-
tionship.
“These pictures and photos
contain images of the Decedent,
grievously injured and in varying
states of undress, atop a blood-
soaked mattress in the defen-
dant’s bedroom,” charging docu-
ments state.
Adal was held without bond
after a Tuesday court appearance.
Attorneys for the public defenders
office declined to comment on his
case.
Police and emergency crews
were called to the 6300 block of
64th Avenue about noon Thurs-
day for a report of an injured
person, police said. Officers found

Gebrekirstos suffering from trau- ma “to her head and face and not breathing,” according to charging documents. Adal, who was in the apartment, told authorities that the woman had been injured in a fall down stairs, the documents state. But detectives said Gebrekir- stos had bruises on her face, neck, and arms and legs with none on her torso. She also had a significant cut on her hand, police said. “Detectives did not believe these injuries to be consistent with a fall,” according to police charging documents. Investigators found blood in the back bedroom of the apartment and said the pattern of the spatter indicated an assault had occurred there, charging papers said. Adal was taken to police head- quarters for questioning where detectives said they found “a mul- titude” of images on his phone stretching from shortly after mid- night to nearly noon dated on the day of Gebrekirstos’s killing. At least one image was texted to someone else, charging documents state. An autopsy determined that she died of “multiple traumatic injuries,” and a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, police said. [email protected]

MARYLAND

Police: Suspect recorded

fatally wounded woman

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST A Red Line train waits to leave the Shady Grove station in Rockville last year.

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, left, and Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld, shown on the Red Line last year, are at odds over conditions of the state’s financial support of the transit agency.

The Washington Post - 31.07.2019

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