banjoy - Posted - 04/15/2024:  05:59:51

A mutual friend has informed me that Ben Eldridge (of the Seldom Scene) passed away last night at home, at 9:40pm. I was informed a week ago of his health and out of respect for the family and our mutual friend, did not share that news with anyone.



Ben was one of my favorite banjo pickers.

RIP Ben. Godspeed.

Edited by - banjoy on 04/15/2024 06:02:48

Bart Veerman - Posted - 04/15/2024:  06:11:45

Ouch! Ben was an amazing player and a real nice guy.
RIP

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/15/2024:  06:15:32

Thank you sharing this sad news.

Ben was truly one of the all-time greats.

It was my tremendous good luck that the summer of 1972 when I was first learning banjo is also when the Seldom Scene was playing every week at the Red Fox Inn in nearby Bethesda, Maryland, for no cover. I was there every week, soaking up what I could. I did not catch a single lick of Ben's, but his playing demonstrated to me the banjo's role in an ensemble.

Ben will long be remembered for his contributions to melodic style and his chromatic ideas. But he was also a master of rolling backup.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 04/15/2024:  06:42:50

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Ira Gitlin - Posted - 04/15/2024:  07:05:28

This feels like the end of an era. Ben's sensitive, intelligent, creative banjo work was just as important a part of the Seldom Scene's sound as John Duffey's soaring tenor vocals or Tom Gray's propulsive bass lines. In his quiet way, he was one of the giants of bluegrass music.

lightgauge - Posted - 04/15/2024:  07:17:21

Loved his style and learned from listening to his unique playing. He was a great one and will be missed.

djenks - Posted - 04/15/2024:  07:36:20

Ben was one of my all time favorites. He will be greatly missed. Prayers to the family.

HuberTone - Posted - 04/15/2024:  07:43:51

Ben Eldridge was as big a contribution to the Seldom Scene sound as the stellar Duffey/Starling vocals and the ethereal dobro work of Mike Auldridge. Ben's ability to move between the signature Scene softer material to the wide-open grass they also mastered was inspiring.

And no one, I mean NO ONE, had tone like Ben. It was 100% recognizable and 100% him. Full, clangy, fat. The way it should be, haha.

RIP to a legend.

bill t - Posted - 04/15/2024:  08:22:56

Really sorry to hear this news. One of my very favorite banjo players!
I feel fortunate to have meant him and talked with him years back.

heavy5 - Posted - 04/15/2024:  08:37:23

Ran into Ben the first time at Berryville Va in the early 70's wandering around in the dark pickers area & not sure if he was part of any band at the time ? . He liked my new ODE & asked if it was a pre war --- cause he couldn't see it Ha ! We chatted for awhile & went on our different ways .After that we saw him many times at the Gettysburg fest w/ the Scene .

We certainly will miss & feel honored to have known him & his music .

Edited by - heavy5 on 04/15/2024 08:49:28

chuckv97 - Posted - 04/15/2024:  08:38:17

So sad,, a real inspiration. Rest in Peace, Ben.

Will Frady - Posted - 04/15/2024:  08:47:04

I love Ben’s version of You don’t know my mind . Totally different than the Crowe break everyone seems to use in that song . An absolute giant in the banjo world !

monstertone - Posted - 04/15/2024:  11:28:54

There are not enough superlatives to adequately describe the talents Ben brought to the party. Yet for all of that, Ben thought himself just the average guy. We lost a giant. Condolences to friends & family. R.I.P. Ben. Till we meet again.

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/15/2024:  11:44:06

quote:

---

Originally posted by Will Frady

I love Ben’s version of You don’t know my mind . Totally different than the Crowe break everyone seems to use in that song . An absolute giant in the banjo world !

---

So true. Like all the banjo players of his generation, Ben listened to a lot of Earl Scruggs. But since he liked several kinds of music, his head was full of ideas, and he never (so it seems) felt the need to play anything exactly the way someone else played it.

Listen to Ben's episode of the Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast.  Recorded last year. Ben's wife, Barbara, participates in the interview, to help out when Ben was already having trouble remembering.

Also treat yourself to this three-part interview series from 2012 with bluegrass radio host Katy Daley.

stanleytone - Posted - 04/15/2024:  12:14:11

With Ben it never seemed to be about him. It was all about the band.

banjo_nz - Posted - 04/15/2024:  13:40:08

When we first arrived in DC in 1981, Ben opened his house to me and my wife. We stayed with him for a couple of weeks until we were able to find a job and a place of our own, and were totally overwhelmed by his generosity.

Over the next 6 years he was a terrific friend and mentor to me, always willing to share his banjo licks and explain the nuances of his playing. Scruggs, Scruggs and then Scruggs - he was totally in awe of Earl Scruggs yet always managed to add his own unique interpretation.

Week after week on Thursday nights at the Birchmere he played his heart out and loved every minute of it.

Very sad to hear of his passing and he will be sorely missed.

arnie fleischer - Posted - 04/15/2024:  14:12:37

bluegrasstoday.com/ben-eldridge-passes/

banjoez - Posted - 04/15/2024:  15:06:36

That hits hard. He was always approachable and a genuine nice guy and one of the most exciting and innovative players of his time. Rest in Peace Ben. You gave us so many musical memories.

Edited by - banjoez on 04/15/2024 15:07:28

banjonz - Posted - 04/15/2024:  15:34:29

Ben was on my mind recently. I had the pleasure of speaking with him on the phone in 2018. I called him to ask a question on banjo tuning for one of the SS songs. He was one of my favourite players.

Andy B - Posted - 04/15/2024:  19:10:29

RIP Ben Eldridge. I saw Ben many times at the Birchmere. He was always one of my favorites on the banjo, going back to the pre-Scene recordings he made with Cliff Waldron around 1970. His playing on the Waldron LP “Right On” is some of his most incendiary work. And with the Seldom Scene, he showed how the banjo could fit beautifully in a primarily vocal band. Ben was a masterful musician and he will be missed.

Bikerider - Posted - 04/16/2024:  03:07:09

Hmm. Two very nice responses from New Zealand banjo players. RIP Ben - you were an inspiration.

I’m stranded in NZ for a month due to a lung injury from a car crash and can’t fly back to Canada. On the South Island in Christchurch though so I can’t meet up with you guys. I think I’ll have to relearn how to play by the time I get home.

arnie fleischer - Posted - 04/16/2024:  07:53:28

All that's been said about Ben's wonderful playing is true, without a doubt, but this always comes to mind  when I think of him and the Seldom Scene. Don't take your eyes off him!

youtube.com/watch?v=HB5GZTIQf-o

Of course, it goes without saying that his playing here fits the song and the band just perfectly..

Edited by - arnie fleischer on 04/16/2024 07:58:13

sunburst - Posted - 04/16/2024:  08:09:39

One of my favorites. Great picker and a genuine nice fellow.
From Roanoke in the mid/late '70s.

ben

 

neddyprime - Posted - 04/16/2024:  10:50:08

Ben's book of biographical details and tabs of licks and leads is well worth it. It helps me listen to him better, understand how other great players influenced him, and better appreciate his own blending of style and drive. I am fortunate to have seen him half a dozen times in the 80s with the Scene at the Birchmere. Thanks, all, for sharing links and pics. What a great player and seemingly wonderful guy.

steve davis - Posted - 04/16/2024:  14:40:56

Ben influenced me in combining the old with the new bluegrass.
I got to see him once at Thomas Point Beach and coaxed an autograph from him on a banjo head.
My cousin worked in D.C. for years and he and his wife saw them play many times down there.

r.i.p. Ben Eldridge.

DP in Canada - Posted - 04/18/2024:  16:31:43

Forty odd years ago, I was fresh out of University of Toronto and had only been with my employer for three months, when they sent me on my first business trip, to a conference in Arlington. I had also been taking banjo lessons for roughly 6 months, and had become quite enamoured with Seldom Scene.

I took an early morning walk, wandering throughout the area surrounding the hotel, and through pure serendipity, stumbled upon the Birchmere. It was even more fortuitous that the sign out front said that SS would be appearing that evening.

Unaccompanied, I made my way back that night, but was made to feel right at home when management squeezed me in to a table of kindly, like-minded folks, right at the foot of the stage. Or, more correctly, right at the feet of Mr. Eldridge. It was a fantastic, enchanted evening that will be with me forever and always.

I am genuinely saddened to hear of the passing of this wonderfully talented, accomplished and entertaining gentleman.

Kevin B - Posted - 04/18/2024:  17:23:22

Ben has been my favorite banjo player since someone brought the Seldom Scene to my attention around 1976. The exuded skill and humility, two things that too often do not go hand in hand. God bless you Ben. Prayers for your family and friends.

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/18/2024:  17:50:40

quote:

---

Originally posted by DP in Canada

Forty odd years ago, I was fresh out of University of Toronto and had only been with my employer for three months, when they sent me on my first business trip, to a conference in Arlington. . . .stumbled upon the Birchmere.

---

If this was the 1980s, then you're describing either the first or second Birchmere location. First was in a shopping center, second was on a main drag through a small town business district. The current location (since 1996, in a former bowling alley, down the street from the second location) is a 500-seat venue with excellent sight lines and sound. But there was a great informal neighborhood quality to the first two places.

You truly were lucky to have that within walking distance of where you ended up staying on that trip.

DP in Canada - Posted - 04/18/2024:  18:06:33

Old Hickory … the Birchmere I was fortunate to have found was definitely NOT in a shopping centre, and was indeed a stand-alone structure on a street. Not a particularly picturesque location, as I remember it! But the venue itself, and the show that evening, were both terrific.

matthew s - Posted - 04/18/2024:  18:23:30

I met Ben about 6 times, he was a wonderful guy and my all-time favorite banjo picker. Last time I saw him was about 4-5 years ago in Bellevue Washington at a bluegrass festival and my son got to see him picking with the seldom scene, was a wonderful memory. I love his picking backup skills on songs like wait a minute, small exception of me and last train from poor valley, sooo much. I will miss him and hope your up in Heaven picking with Duffy and the rest..

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/18/2024:  18:37:33

quote:

---

Originally posted by DP in Canada

Old Hickory … the Birchmere I was fortunate to have found was definitely NOT in a shopping centre, and was indeed a stand-alone structure on a street. Not a particularly picturesque location, as I remember it! But the venue itself, and the show that evening, were both terrific.

---

That would be location #2, seeing as they didn't move to their current home until 1996.

ronh2510 - Posted - 04/19/2024:  04:39:56

Saw Ben Eldridge with the Seldom Scene at his Alma Mater in N.C. - probably in 1987? Not heard him play before but he (and the rest of the band were terrific!). A very talented Banjo picker. RIP Ben.

Quigg - Posted - 04/19/2024:  06:00:10

Ben Eldridge was special. Not only was he a brilliant banjo picker, he was a kind man. Humble. He played with my dad in a bluegrass band at UVa. Even though I am a below-average picker, he was always encouraging and made time to talk the few times I called him. Ben thanks for the 10,000 hours of listening pleasure.

schwimbo - Posted - 04/19/2024:  06:10:24

I met Ben at Berryville in the late 1960s (in a tent along with Bill Emerson who was playing there - not in the tent - I think with Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass). Ben was a very nice guy, and it was always nice to "run into him" now and then in subsequent years. It is sad to hear of his passing. I didn't know that he was in failing health, but I guess it happens more and more as we all get older. Of course Ben was a fine banjo player (as well as being a nice guy). He did "produce" an excellent guitar player (son Chris) who is also seems to be a nice guy.

Edited by - schwimbo on 04/19/2024 06:11:30

lazyarcher - Posted - 04/19/2024:  07:06:35

I was also fortunate to meet Ben a couple of times. Once many years ago, I was playing a festival the SS was at. We talked banjos and I showed him my lime green RB 800 (Argentine Grey). He was very kind, picked it a bit and it sounded just like him!! When I played it later, it sounded like me...disappointing... RIP Ben.

Mr. Quimby - Posted - 04/19/2024:  07:22:50

I remember dragging my parents to a Seldom Scene concert and telling them that Ben Eldridge was an amazing banjo player. After my dad said, "After your comment, I was expecting him to be flashy or pushing himself forward. But he wasn't at all. But I could see why you liked him." I said it was because he wasn't flashy that made him great. He was solid and focused on making the SS sound what it was. But when he did his solos he would blow you away even without any flash.

And of course I will never be able to listen to Lay Down Sally without picturing him doing his little dance.

Bob Corder - Posted - 04/19/2024:  08:14:35

I'm saddened to learn of Ben's passing. He was a champion of the 5-string banjo and a very nice guy. Me and a good friend of mind, back in the '80s, would take off after work on many Thursday evenings and travel from Richmond, VA to Arlington, VA to the Birchmere for an evening of music, courtesy of the Seldom Scene. I never got to meet Ben until about 10 years ago at a small venue in Ashland, VA. Ben wasn't playing that night; he was in the audience listening to a local band. During one of the band's breaks, I went over to his table, introduced myself, and chatted with him. It was then I learned that Ben, like me, had attended The University of Virginia and were still great fans of the football and basketball teams. He was so easy to talk with, and I will never forget his kindness to a total stranger. The nation has lost a wonderful human being as well as a very talented "picker."

1935tb-11 - Posted - 04/20/2024:  09:59:46

bens passing hit me kinda hard. he was one of the good ones for sure, brilliant mind and understanding of the banjo. i guess his mathematics training helped too. i got to meet him several times. always very nice to me. we even had lunch together a couple of times while we were playing the same festival. and once i got him to show me how he played last train from poor valley,, i will never for get that. a gentleman in every sense,,, a dry sense of humor but could be a cut up in a heart beat.
he changed the way i played banjo ,, and i told him so. he just laughed and said "you are ruined for life now". i haven't been in touch with him in quite a while since i quit playing ,,, but it still hurts. RIP buddy,, you will be missed by so many.

waystation - Posted - 04/28/2024:  15:35:47

The Seldom Scene was one of my favorite bands to see live when I got involved in bluegrass in the mid-70s. Later on, I'd approach (some would say "accost") Ben at festivals to ask banjo questions. If he had 45 minutes between sets, he'd gladly spend 30 of them talking to random banjo players. A very generous and kind soul, and one of the greats. He will be missed.