Welcome to Heard in Humboldt on KHSU, a program where we play a range of live music performances captured in Humboldt County.
This week we have a special and rare recording with a fun backstory — a recording from our own KHSU studio. This features a blue grass group, Pacific Grass & Acoustic, playing in the station during a pledge marathon way back in 1979.
This recording was recently sent to us by a listener and Humboldt alum, Greg Hardig, who recorded this from the radio onto his cassette deck and sent it to one of the artists, who digitized it. After connecting us with Jon Menig from the band, we learned a little bit about this group, which was primarily composed of brothers Jon and Tom Menig, Rudy Gorke and Avram Segal.
Jon said that he, Tom and Rudy discovered they could do three part harmony while working in Kodiak Alaska unloading shrimp boats in 1977. The following fall, when HSU was back in session, Menig said, the three met Avram Segal, who even at the age of 19 was an accomplished banjo player. They’d play some of the little Arcata Clubs for tips and beer. After a little while they added a bass player and violin to the group and actually got some paying gigs around town. Graduation and adult life eventually ended the group’s short run, but Menig says they keep in touch and a few of them even got together for a jam last summer.
We’re going to play one song from the nearly hour-long recording we were sent, it’s a cover of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, tune “Standing on the Rock.” and of course we had to include some of the band’s charming banter.
Thank you to Jon Menig and all the members of Pacific Grass & Acoustic and thank you to Greg Hardig for providing the recording. Thank you for listening to Heard in Humboldt on KHSU and tune in next time, as we explore more live music from behind the redwood curtain.
You can listen to the full recording of the band playing on KHSU below!