| Marietta
Ohio Times, Sept 2003
Band
not slack in musical quality
By Brad Bauer
This
year's Ohio River Sternwheel Festival was made special for
at least two families.
Former
Mariettan Joe Wharff and his bluegrass band, "The Slack
Family," of Richmond, Va., returned to the Ohio River
levee to perform for the second time in three years. The group
played two toe-tapping sets Sunday.
"It's
always great to come back home and visit with my family,"
Wharff said. "But it is even better when I can come back
home and play for everyone with my new family."
Wharff,
lead vocalist and guitarist, said his band began to take form
in 1995 on the streets of Richmond. Since, the group has produced
two albums, including their recently released "Pickin'
up the Slack," which is gaining national attention.
"We
started playing in an alleyway in "The Fan," a section
of Richmond, late on Friday and Saturday nights after the
bars closed down," Wharff said. "At first, a few
people would stop and listen ... And then the word got out.
By the third or fourth weekend, we had 40 or 50 people out
in that alleyway jamming to our music."
Wharff
said soon a few bar owners began asking them to play their
bars. It meant the group of friends needed a name.
"We
called ourselves "The Slack Boys" because we didn't
want to do anything but eat, sleep and pick bluegrass music,"
he said.
"Some
people would consider that as being slack, so we just beat
them to the punch."
Eventually,
Wharff said the group of close friends decided on The Slack
Family in 1997 when they produced their first album.
Wharff
said it did very well in the Richmond area.
Over
the next few years, the group evolved and a few new members
joined, including upright bassist Brian Sulser and fiddle
player Jim Skelding, who played with Martina McBride for three
years before joining The Slacks.
Sulser
said he enjoyed playing in Marietta.
"I
know Joe really enjoyed this ... But we all loved it,"
Sulser said. "This was a lot of fun."
Wharff
said other than the opportunity to play before his family
and friends in Marietta, a highlight of his musical career
came in 1999, when he was invited to the International Bluegrass
Music Association Music Awards to showcase two of his original
songs.
Wharff
said The Slack Family hopes to continue to play to a wide
audience across the country, gaining national exposure.
"We
would love to play Telluride and, of course, The Grand Ole
Opry," Wharff said. "We'll see what happens."
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