Common Ground Biography The bluegrass music industry is enjoying a well deserved popularity not seen in many years, thanks to performers like Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Nickel Creek, and The Soggy Bottom Boys with their hit song, Man Of Constant Sorrow, from the movie soundtrack, O’ Brother Where Art Thou. It’s Common Ground’s intention to offer a hard driving, progressive bluegrass sound, utilizing traditional bluegrass, gospel, country, and vintage southern rock tunes, with strong emphasis on full 3 and 4-part harmonies. Their goal is to cater to traditional bluegrass enthusiasts, while also drawing a young, new crowd of bluegrassers to the art form. Technically though, the group prefers to stick to the traditional, old style simplicity of working around only one single, microphone while performing on stage. In the early days of bluegrass music, groups like Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, The Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jessie, among most other performers, used only one single microphone in their stage shows. At that time, that’s pretty much all they had to work with. They would play in a semi-circle around that single microphone, weaving in and out as they took their individual instrument breaks, or during their lead vocal parts. They would roll in and tighten up together around the mic when it came to singing a 3 or 4-part harmony vocal part. This allowed them to control the sound mix themselves, while they performed on stage. Those guys perfected the technique of working around only one microphone. That style of stage showmanship is still alive and visible today, during a Common Ground performance. Even performers such as J. D. Crowe & The New South, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, sometimes use only one mic while performing on stage. It’s funny, with all of the current technology available today, current performers sometimes wind up going back to the simplest form of stage show. The early performers new exactly just what they were doing. After all, that’s why Earl and those performers became so great. We should never forget that. We sometimes have a tendency to loose sight of just how good those guys really were, until we pull out a vintage videotape or audio recording of a performance from 30 or 40 years back. If you can get a great soundman that knows just exactly what he’s doing, it can be great using separate microphones. If you don’t have that luxury, it can be an absolute disaster. Ronnie Deaton is quoted as saying, “We’ve had some of the greatest stage shows imaginable using separate mics. We’ve also had some that were just simply disasters. We prefer using just one single large diaphragm mic on stage, because we are the ones that control our stage sound and sound mix. We consistently know, from venue to venue, just how our sound will be. We can’t blame anyone else if something goes wrong, it’s totally our fault. We are the ones that have control. That’s why so many groups are using the single mic setup.” Many times performers even recorded in the studio that way, and sometimes still do today. One example of this is the first full blown all bluegrass project by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, (Bluegrass Rules). Check out the liner notes inside the cover. That entire project was recorded in the old style, all around the mics at once. The band members are all from the southeastern Indiana area, and they play many different events in that part of the state, as well as many venues in other states in that part of the country. Most recently Common Ground was honored with the opportunity to play for Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana Senator Johnny Nugent, Indiana Congressman Mike Sodrel, Indiana Attorney General Todd Raketa, President Sandra Froman of the NRA, (National Rifle Association), The President of ISRPA, (Indiana State Rifle & Pistol Association), and other prominent local area, and Indiana state dignitaries, at a political round table held in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The group was officially formed in January of 2005. They were originally thrown together, on kind of a last minute fluke from several different bands. It’s hard to find 4 or 5 guys that have similar ideas in mind when it comes to the future of a band. As you will read below, they have gone through quite a transformation of members since that first day, coming up with what the band currently is today. The group currently consists of Dave Leonard from Bargersville, Indiana on banjo and tenor/baritone vocals, Dennis Schubnell from Henryville, Indiana on mandolin and lead/tenor/baritone vocals, Jack Bustle from Holton, Indiana on upright bass and bass vocals, Olivia Smiley from Greensburg, Indiana on fiddle and lead/tenor/baritone vocals, and Ronnie Deaton from Versailles, Indiana on rhythm/lead guitar and lead/tenor/baritone vocals. Ronnie is quoted as saying, “We’re more than just a bluegrass band, and we’ve all become very close friends. When you enjoy the music and playing as much as we all do, every time we get the chance to play, whether it’s in practice or on stage, it’s fantastic. When it falls together just right, the rush is incredible. We feel that God has really blessed each of us with the ability to play and sing, first of all, plus the fact that we enjoy doing it so much, and then when you can do it with close friends, it’s just like icing on the cake. Nothing gives you a greater feeling of satisfaction. I actually don’t know where we have the most fun at, in practice or on stage. The bottom line is, as far as we’re concerned, this is supposed to be fun. When it isn’t fun any more we’ll find something else to do. At least that’s how I feel. I’ve done this a long time though. I can’t imagine it ever getting to the point to where I don’t enjoy it any more.” A few months earlier in August of 2004, a band was needed to fill in for another group, that wasn’t going to make it for their scheduled show at a bluegrass festival located at the Versailles, Indiana State Park. After the show was over, the guys thought that they may have stumbled onto something that was worth pursuing in the future. They decided to get together a few times later to jam, and found that they liked, what had seemingly fallen out of know where. The original members from that day were Ronnie Deaton on lead guitar and lead/tenor/baritone vocals, Jack Bustle on upright bass and bass vocals, (both from Skynny Lynyrd/Son’s Of Thunder), Greg Griffin on banjo and lead/tenor/baritone vocals, (from Rural Route II and James White & Deer Creek), Gary Eldridge on mandolin and lead/baritone vocals, (from Rural Route II), Bobby Bennel on fiddle, (from Rural Route II and The Lost Mill String Band). Unofficially, Common Ground originally started with the members listed above, but as mentioned earlier, they had gone through quite a bit of changes in that first year, to achieve the current group. Bobby Bennel of Rural Route II, only performed on fiddle, that first day at the Versailles State Park Bluegrass Festival. He left and moved to Tennessee to perform full time with The Lost Mill String Band. Common Ground then picked up Jeff Pelfrey from Skynny Lynyrd/Sons Of Thunder, on rhythm/lead guitar and lead/tenor/baritone vocals. Jeff later moved back to his childhood home of Jackson, Kentucky, taking a job offered to him there. They then picked up Gary Eldridge on mandolin and lead/baritone vocals, also from Rural Route II, who up until Jeff leaving, had only performed with Common Ground on that original day in the Versailles State Park. Gary then stepped out after receiving a job offer in Alaska. Thankfully for bluegrass circles in the area, Gary decided to stay in Indiana, but with job requirements and family obligations, he still only had time to dedicate to his first band, Rural Route II. Greg Griffin, who is also with Rural Route II, stepped away from his second band, James White & Deer Creek, to play with Common Ground on banjo and lead/tenor/baritone vocals, since the practice location was so much closer to his home. Like any bluegrass picker, who is in love with the music though, you sometimes bite off more than you can chew. Greg wanting to play with everybody, but having limited time, reluctantly decided to leave Common Ground to play with his son, in an already formed family gospel band called the Gospel Messengers. A few short weeks before Greg had decided to leave, they filled the mandolin vacancy left by Gary, with Dennis Schubnell of Michael Cleveland’s Blue Hollow Band, on mandolin and lead/tenor/baritone vocals. Dennis also brings the talent of song writing to Common Ground. Shortly after Dennis joined, and Greg left the group, Dave Leonard joined up, replacing Greg on banjo and lead/tenor/baritone vocals. After Dave joined, things remained pretty much the same for several years, except for a short period of time in the fall of 2007, through the spring of 2008, when Olivia Smiley rounded out the group on fiddle and lead/tenor/baritone vocals. She is also an accomplished songwriter, and a fantastic young fiddle talent from Greensburg, Indiana. You can look for Olivia to make her mark in the professional level of the bluegrass industry in the near future. It will be a big mark too. Her accomplishments are oh so many, you can look for her on the international bluegrass scene very soon. Remember, you heard that here first. Common Ground has currently settled back into the mode of a four-piece group with Dave, Dennis, Jack, and Ronnie. This brings us up to date. Things are solid as a rock now. There’ll be a quiz after you finish all of the reading on this page. Can you remember all of this stuff? There are a vast number of fans and campers at these bluegrass festivals from differing cultural backgrounds. There’s no class separation when it comes to bluegrass music though. You will find bankers, lawyers, and doctors, as well as store clerks, mechanics, and factory workers at all of these events. That’s what makes bluegrass music so incredible. This is where the band name, Common Ground is derived from. Ronnie is quoted as saying, “We tried for so long to find a good name for the group. Unfortunately, every time one of us would think of what we thought was a good one, it was already taken by someone else. We wanted a name that embodied the feelings of all of the band members as a whole, spiritually and naturally. Common Ground was it. In the spiritual since, we are all the same in God’s eyes. We are all working toward the same goals in this life and when we leave this world. There are no prejudices or separations. Separations are imposed buy man on this Earth, and so much of it is ridiculous and unnecessary. In the natural since, we all have just as many things that we hold in common with each other. All of us, as musicians, have the same future goals as far as picking is concerned. We just love bluegrass music. We’re all on Common Ground.” Bluegrass music is down to earth, simple and clean. It offers a family friendly, and spiritual atmosphere, not seen very much these days. Where can you go and hear music that embraces traditional gospel tunes equally on its stages? Other musical venues don’t.
Many bluegrass festivals are predominantly camper oriented, with 24 hour a day jams and pitch-in meals going on all the time. It’s just like a big happy family. Just one example, The Bill Monroe Music Park located in Bean Blossom, Indiana schedules five or more bluegrass-oriented festivals each year. These festivals usually cater to hundreds, if not thousands of fans and campers. The festivals held each year at Bean Blossom alone, are only a fraction of the festivals and events held annually around the country and around the world. There’s The Festival of the Bluegrass, held in Central Kentucky, The Poppy Mountain Bluegrass series of festivals, held in Moorehead, Kentucky, and many! many! Many! more festivals and events held all over the world. People gather from all over the United States and other parts of the world to renew old friendships and start new ones. What better combination, than bluegrass music and camping. Down home music and down home living. Now you can see why Common Ground has a lot of versatility. Coming from the above-mentioned groups, the guys have so many past experiences and so much variety to pool from, (traditional to progressive). “We sure hope that we’ll do something that you’ll enjoy, and that you’ll like the end result. As you browse the rest of the site, take your time. We invite you to please let us know if you have any suggestions. Hopefully, we will run across each other at one of our performances. Don’t ever be a stranger. Feel free to come up to any of us after any of our shows and say hello. Thank you so much for your interest in Common Ground. Please keep us in your prayers and may God richly bless you.”
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